# High light with CFL's on a 10 gallon help



## Mike Hawk (Mar 9, 2012)

My fixture supports 2 bulbs, what wattage bulbs should i get to attain high light. The fixture sits 2 inches above the water. The depth to the substrate is 10 Inches. I have ok reflectors, not great. Im currently running 2x 15W 6500k Cool light CFL's, What level of light at i running at the moment? Thanks for reading, Have a good one.


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## shortsboy (Feb 6, 2011)

This link is the best resource for CFL info around here (hence its status as a sticky).

With a standard dual incandescent hood, you're orienting the bulbs horizontally, which reduces the effective output of the bulbs, meaning you're at about a mid-range right now. Are you disappointed with the plant growth you're seeing? Before you increase the light amount, have you increased your CO2 and fert levels? The attached data suggests you're somewhere in the 50-60 mms of PAR (see diagram 7), which should be enough for most things to grow just fine, and if you went with 19w or 23w you would be in the high light range, but unless you balance out your other nutrients, you're in for a world of algae.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

I run 2 13W's in my hood on my 10gal that's done that way and I wouldn't go any higher. More than likely the inside isn't reflective at all, so you can take some aluminum duct tape and cover behind the bulbs to get some reflection and that would increase your light some and help the spread of it as well. Are you running the glass/plastic as well with it?


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## Mike Hawk (Mar 9, 2012)

GeToChKn said:


> I run 2 13W's in my hood on my 10gal that's done that way and I wouldn't go any higher. More than likely the inside isn't reflective at all, so you can take some aluminum duct tape and cover behind the bulbs to get some reflection and that would increase your light some and help the spread of it as well. Are you running the glass/plastic as well with it?


Nope i took off the plastic cover and good idea with the aluminum duck tape i do that.


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## Azarakiah (Sep 22, 2011)

i ran 2 13watt bulbs also.
i left the plastic bulb covers in and didnt do any other mods to the hood either and it worked great still.


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## bpb (Mar 8, 2011)

I run two 15 watt 6500k spiral bulbs in my incandescent hood over a 10 gallon. I siliconed a sheet of acrylic cut to size over the entire base of the hood, removed the dumb plastic bulb guards, and painted the underside gloss white. I've been running this fixture for a year now, with mineralized topsoil and no CO2. It has worked pretty well so far. Growth is fairly slow, but plants are healthy. Algae exists but is almost always on the losing side of the battle. I use a split photoperiod. 4 hours on, 4 hours off, 8 hours on, 8 hours off...repeat.


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