What lighting? LEDS, DIY, CFL... Help my planted tank succeed.

3683 Views 16 Replies 8 Participants Last post by JungleFish, Apr 18, 2014

JungleFish

Discussion Starter · Apr 13, 2014

Hi I'm new here and this is my first post. I have a standard ten gallon aquarium and I want to be able to grow medium-low light plants without pressurized C02. Out of all the lighting options I've researched I'm considering the:

-Fugeray 20" planted+ Led
-Ray2 18" LED
-or a clamp light set up with cfl bulbs similar to this idea: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=153195

I don't know which option would be the best for my goals so can I please have some advice about which one will work the best for me or for another similar and inexpensive option?

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lauraleellbp

· #2 · Apr 13, 2014

Welcome to TPT!

Any of those options should work fine. :biggrin:

JungleFish

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 13, 2014

Thanks! That's part of the problem though I don't know which one to pick. But Its good to know I'm on the right track.

Seattle_Aquarist

· #4 · Apr 13, 2014

Hi JungleFish,

Welcome to TPT!

If you have the "standard" fixture with two incandescent sockets you can use two of these 10 watt 6500K CFL's that fit the fixture. Here is my low tech 10 gallon tank using those bulbs, fertilizers, but no CO2.

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JungleFish

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 14, 2014

I love your tank Seattle_Aquarist! I actually have a fluorescent tube hood not an incandescent hood but it only holds one small tube (14" long I think) so it isn't powerful enough and its hard to find good very short fluorescent tubes.

Getcusome

· #6 · Apr 14, 2014

DIY all the way!! rewarding, fun, enjoyable, upgradable, tweak able and just waaaaayyyyyy more bang for your buck! just my 2 pennies

jeffkrol

· #7 · Apr 14, 2014

JungleFish said:
I don't know which option would be the best for my goals so can I please have some advice about which one will work the best for me or for another similar and inexpensive option?

Planted plus would be like $70 plus dollars

buildmyled would be $2x that cost..
http://www.buildmyled.com/dutch-planted-6300k/

A quad tube T5 would be about $60 on flea bay ( 291117768655 )
But you would probably swap some bulbs for better fw "color"...

Personally IF med. to low light is your criteria it is more important to match "color" than output..

Then there are features.. like dimming..
I'd also take a look at the Current line..
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=26107

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lauraleellbp

· #8 · Apr 14, 2014

jeffkrol said:
A quad tube T5 would be about $60 on flea bay ( 291117768655 )
But you would probably swap some bulbs for better fw "color"...

Why would you put 4 T5HO bulbs over a 10gal tank? :icon_eek: Just one would be moderate to high light (depending on the fixture).

JungleFish- any of those lights will grow plants just fine. Really the differences between them are $$, a few bells and whistles, and aesthetics. Totally up to you which of those factors are most important to you, personally.

jeffkrol

· #9 · Apr 14, 2014 (Edited by Moderator)

lauraleellbp said:
Why would you put 4 T5HO bulbs over a 10gal tank? :icon_eek: Just one would be moderate to high light (depending on the fixture).

Sorry just threw that in there..

change it to this 2 tube..

Supports 2x 18W T5 fluorescent lamps

$36

18" 18W LED:
291117740370

LuckyCharm

· #10 · Apr 14, 2014

I say start out with those clip on CFL, if they don't work out. You can always use it else were. As for the other light, not sure where you can use them in the house lol

Getcusome

· #11 · Apr 14, 2014

3

boom!!!!!

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for a 10g it would be sooo easy and a good learning experience. i first did my 5g sps tank light then jumped to the 120g setup

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JungleFish

Discussion Starter · #12 · Apr 15, 2014

Thanks for all the replies! How many CFl bulbs would I need, what wattages and what colour temperature? I don't know if I need 1-2, 10watt or 15watt or 1 26watt and if they should be 5000 or 6500k? I also read that par is a bit stronger on the Ray2 than the planted+ and I don't know if that would be good or bad for my tank, or if the red LEDs in the planted+ would be better.

JungleFish

Discussion Starter · #13 · Apr 15, 2014

Bump

lauraleellbp

· #14 · Apr 15, 2014

You'd need CO2 with the Ray.

Most CFLs between 5000-10,000 k will support freshwater plant growth, the main difference is personal aesthetics. The lower side of the spectrum will be a softer yellow (personally I think 5000k bulbs make water look like someone pee'd in a tank LOL), whereas some people don't like the cool white of 10,000k because they feel the tank colors look all washed out.

The old watts per gallon rule tends to work pretty well when talking about CFL over a 10gal tank. So anywhere in the 2-3 wpg range (with either T8 or U-shaped CFL bulbs) should allow to you to grow just about anything you want, with CO2 and a balanced fert regimen.

Lower than 2 wpg and CO2 becomes optional.

clopez1

· #15 · Apr 16, 2014 (Edited)

What I did with my 10 gallon was modify the hood with one of these..Westinghouse Lighting 22259 2-Lamp Socket..Took off the brackets and drilled 2 holes on the top of hood, added 2 thin long bolts and nuts to hold the socket in place, a bit of aluminum tape to reflect the light, 2 13w 6500k cfls and you are good to go.

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rininger85

· #16 · Apr 16, 2014

2

my 10 gal work tank I'm running stock screw in type hood with (1) 13W spiral CFL and (1) 18W spiral CFL bulb in the hood (horizontally mounted). I came to this decision after reading/interpreting the data found in the CFL PAR link in my signature... tank is about 5-6 months old with zero algae (other than some slight film algae on the glass that I clean about once a month). But I'm growing dwarf baby tears with no CO2 (I do dose flourish excel twice a week though).

edit: added a picture of my tank from 11/4/13 to show how little my plants were when I started... I have not added anything since this picture other than the stem plant in the back I replanted some trimmings a few times, otherwise its all grown in from that pic.

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JungleFish

Discussion Starter · #17 · Apr 18, 2014

All right guys I think i'm going to go the DIY way with CFL bulbs. I'll probably try around a 23 watts bulb and if its too much and causes algae i'll make some adjustments.

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