lighting a 10 gallon

[Ownager2004]

I have a 15 watt plant bulb in my hood. Im also using a compact flourescent bulb in a desklamp type setup that uses 25 watts and says its a 100w replacement. The desklamp is a 6500K bulb. Is this comparable to, say, 3 watts per gallon?

Also I dont really like this setup because the desklamp requires the lid to the tank be open and it really isn't that attractive the way it is setup right now. What is a good cheap way to get 2.5+ watts/gallon on a 10. So far it seems like the cheapest option would be to get a glass cover and take light strip from my current hood and purchase another 20" single bulb fixture. Does that sound like the best thing to do?

[Alin10123]

Originally Posted by Ownager2004

I have a 15 watt plant bulb in my hood. Im also using a compact flourescent bulb in a desklamp type setup that uses 25 watts and says its a 100w replacement. The desklamp is a 6500K bulb. Is this comparable to, say, 3 watts per gallon?

Also I dont really like this setup because the desklamp requires the lid to the tank be open and it really isn't that attractive the way it is setup right now. What is a good cheap way to get 2.5+ watts/gallon on a 10. So far it seems like the cheapest option would be to get a glass cover and take light strip from my current hood and purchase another 20" single bulb fixture. Does that sound like the best thing to do?

Well... i guess if you're going for both looks and bright lights at the same time you might need to spend a little $$. ALthough... for a 10 gallon, it really wont get all that expensive no matter how you look at it. I would recommend www.bigals.com and that's where i got my power compact lighting for my 55 lighting. I'm sure it wont be that hard to find 20 watts of lighting that'll fit over your tank.

[Ownager2004]

They dont sell anything that fits a 10 gallon aquarium and puts out more than 18 watts (well there are power compact fixtures but they are minimum 40 watts, expensive and all the bulbs I saw were tailored for SW). The only option, it seems to me, is to put more than one of these light strips on a single tank.

[goodie]

Does this help any?

Also, there has been much debate risen over the WPG rule in regards to some of the smaller sized tanks. You may find that you have hit the 3 WPG mathematically, but you are still lacking the "intensity" of the bulbs in question.

Example: Take a 10 gallon tank, by the math you could put 2 - 18 watt Normal Output Flourescent bulbs over it and have 3 + WPG "mathematically" but you still only have 18 watts of "intensity. You will not be able to grow many varieties of plants successfully in this tank even though you are at the 3 WPG that we are looking for. Now if you take that same 10 gallon tank and put a 1 X 36 watt Compact flourescent over it you now have the same amount of watts total but you have 36 watts of "Bulb Intensity" in which you can grow virtually any plants you choose.

The WPG Rule is very general and some thought needs to be put into lighting choices before setting up your tank, but always keep in mind that plants need the "Watt Intensity of the Bulb" to be successful, as well as WPG.

Taken from http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/...lanted-Tank/4/

[RockabillyChick]

just get a second light strip. they sell them pretty cheap at home depot. get another flourecent bulb with 6500-6700k color temp and you'll be good to go.

[JustOneMore20]

My 10g has two screw in bulbs so I just replaced them with 10w CF bulbs.

I know yours is not that simple.

I have been looking into a retrokit fit from here: http://www.ahsupply.com/36-55w.htm They have a 36w kit that will fit into 10 gallon hoods. That would give you 3.6wpg...so you could grow medium light plants and some high light plants. That link tells you about the kits. They are a little expensive for me....but I'm a college kid, so I'm pretty broke.

[Ownager2004]

Yeah I posted this on another forum and thats what they suggested. The reflectors that come with those are supposed to be some of the best around also. Im considering either getting one of 36 watt retrofit kits or getting an incadescent hood that I can stick two 20w CFs in. Which, I geuss isn't really that much better than 1 20w light, but oh well.