# Noob lighting questions on low tech 10g :/



## JennaH (Sep 28, 2009)

ok, so i have a 1st time planted 10g with only a couple plants in it so far. i hung a 24" fluorescent shop light w/ 2 17w T8 bulbs about 9" above the tank. everything looks brighter than with the stock hood which had 2 15w screw in tubular incandescent. what do you guy think of this? should i get different bulbs? i saw "grow" bulbs for this hood which specified for plants. are they worth looking into? they were also 20w each which i thought would be a bit much but maybe not 9" above the tank? sheesh i have alot to learn  any help appreciated!


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## DvanK (Feb 27, 2009)

Please take out the hut. Fish don't need toys.


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## GlassCat594 (Mar 20, 2009)

do you know what the type of bulbs you have? if they are 'daylight' you should be okay with what you have.


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## Rod Hay (Feb 11, 2006)

DvanK said:


> Please take out the hut. Fish don't need toys.


You really don't need to be so rude and arrogant to cr** on a new person's thread. :frown: Especially if you have no reasonable or helpful advice to offer first. REALLY! 
People don't put garden Gnomes out in their yards for the entertainment of the birds and squirrels; they decorate their yards w/ Gnomes because that is what _they_ like to look at. There is certainly room in this hobby for persons with all different styles and likes.


Jenna,
Let me say welcome to TPT Forum, and good luck with your new tank. There sure is a ton to learn about keeping plants in aquariums. But, I think that is half the fun. I always tell myself that all that learning will help keep my brain from getting mushy as I'm aging.

It is good that you have upgraded the lighting. This helps a lot to keep the plants growing healthy. It will also allow you to grow a better selection of plants than just Java Fern and Anubias - the very low light plants. Cryptocorynes are some easy, good plants to look into for medium light tanks.

On my ten gallon tank I crammed two aquarium fixtures that were t-8, but only 18" long. They were each 15w. I had them sitting directly on the glass. So I had 30w right on top. The tank did well enough. So, I think your 2 @ 17w will be just fine. You could also do the 20w bulbs just as well. With your fixture being just a hair longer that a standard 10g tank (20" long), I think you are loosing just a tad of the light spilling out over the edge. Not that this is a problem, just you don't need to be overly concerned about too much light if you would like the 20w plant bulbs instead.

Myself, I like to mix bulbs in a fixture. I generally run one cool white - regular daylight bulb. And the other a pinker, plant specific gro-bulb. Plants benefit the most from the light at the two ends of the spectrum - red light and blue. I find that this helps the plants, but also gives a more balanced light for my viewing. Sometimes using all grow lights can make things have too much pink.

Another aquarium light that is very good for plants is the one sold under the All-Glass label. It is 8000K - and available in 24" T-8:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+12850&pcatid=12850


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## senoufo (Nov 14, 2008)

quote:
You really don't need to be so rude and arrogant to cr** on a new person's thread. :frown: Especially if you have no reasonable or helpful advice to offer first. REALLY! 
People don't put garden Gnomes out in their yards for the entertainment of the birds and squirrels; they decorate their yards w/ Gnomes because that is what _they_ like to look at. There is certainly room in this hobby for persons with all different styles and likes.

Hear hear!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I think you have about the right amount of light now, but it would probably be ok to lower the fixture to a couple of inches above the tank, if you want to try more light. Since the fixture is longer than the tank, it might look better right where it is.


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## JennaH (Sep 28, 2009)

DvanK i have a fiddler crab in there, he needs air once in a while. the top of the hut comes out of the water slightly, it's in there FOR HIM. it's not for you. it's not for me. relax.

besides that, thanks for all the replies  i did see the plant bulbs that were specified red/blue light spectrum, also the daylight bulbs. maybe i'll try one of each. 

so this is the one i got http://www.lightsofamerica.com/Products/8050.aspx

the plant bulb is 7800kelvin, im not sure about the daylight one..


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## DorianBrytestar (May 26, 2009)

Looks great to me. If the light streaming out gets to be a problem, you may be able to fashion some extensions on the edges of the light fixture to keep the light from lighting up the whole area


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## S&KGray (Nov 12, 2008)

JennaH said:


> DvanK i have a fiddler crab in there, he needs air once in a while. the top of the hut comes out of the water slightly, it's in there FOR HIM. it's not for you. it's not for me. relax.
> 
> besides that, thanks for all the replies  i did see the plant bulbs that were specified red/blue light spectrum, also the daylight bulbs. maybe i'll try one of each.
> 
> ...


Looks like that fixture came with 4100k (cool white) bulbs, if you like the look of them then they should be fine. You could also try daylight (6500k or 5000k) bulbs. Or you could go with 1 regular (4100k, 5000k, or 6500k) and one plant grow. Go with whichever combination works for you.

And later on as you scape your tank with more plants, you could replace the hut with a piece of driftwood that sticks out of the water for the fiddler crab.


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## justin182 (Aug 19, 2009)

JennaH said:


> ok, so i have a 1st time planted 10g with only a couple plants in it so far. i hung a 24" fluorescent shop light w/ 2 17w T8 bulbs about 9" above the tank.....!




So are you using a 24" light fixture over a 20" 10g tank?
I am thinking about that too, and worry that it would look ugly.... from your picture, it doesn't look that bad at all.

Do you like it and how does it look in real life?


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## JennaH (Sep 28, 2009)

ok, so i swapped the bulbs for one daylight 6500k and one grow bulb, im pretty happy with the look. thanks for all the help guys!! i have a piece of driftwood coming in the mail, im also hoping to swap the house for it, but if not i want to cover the house (especially the base) with moss and pray it can work as far as looks...


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## JennaH (Sep 28, 2009)

justin182 said:


> So are you using a 24" light fixture over a 20" 10g tank?
> I am thinking about that too, and worry that it would look ugly.... from your picture, it doesn't look that bad at all.
> 
> Do you like it and how does it look in real life?



it actually doesn't look as bad as it sounds! haha, it's really not that noticeable being a couple inches longer on the sides, probably because it's 9" above the tank and not directly above. 
btw im at 40W with these 2 bulbs now. i was worried about losing so much light in the distance, but i had trimmed 8 tops of the mermaid plants last night and replanted them. by the time i got home from work today, they already look taller and all the leaves perked up 100%, so i think this setup will work for now


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## justin182 (Aug 19, 2009)

JennaH said:


> it actually doesn't look as bad as it sounds! haha, it's really not that noticeable being a couple inches longer on the sides, probably because it's 9" above the tank and not directly above.
> btw im at 40W with these 2 bulbs now. i was worried about losing so much light in the distance, but i had trimmed 8 tops of the mermaid plants last night and replanted them. by the time i got home from work today, they already look taller and all the leaves perked up 100%, so i think this setup will work for now




cool. it's just hard to find a good 20" light fixture.... thankz!


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## DvanK (Feb 27, 2009)

Sorry tank looks good otherwise.


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