lightning question

[electricblue]

I have a 5 gallon aquarium with shrimps that i would like to eventually turn into a nice planted tank. At the moment i'm using one of those bulbs like the curly ones excepts it's like 2 u's, it's a 22 or 20w.

I'm just wondering would i benefit more from a coralife mini 11?

[armthehomeless]

First of all, I'd wouldn't put lightning in your tank . . . it would electricute your shrimps. :)

With that said, what type of plants are you planning on having? It sounds like your current lighting should be sufficient for some types of plants already, and if it ain't broke . . .

[Navarro]

First of all, I'd wouldn't put lightning in your tank . . . it would electicute your shrimps. :)

With that said, what type of plants are you planning on having? It sounds like your current lighting should be sufficient for some types of plants already, and if it ain't broke . . .

+1

[IvanSanchez]

Not worth the new fixture...
For about 6$ you can make your plants super happy and buy a 13w 6500k mini CFL at Orange Depot or WalleeWorld...

[electricblue]

Not worth the new fixture...
For about 6$ you can make your plants super happy and buy a 13w 6500k mini CFL at Orange Depot or WalleeWorld...

13w, so less wattage than what i have, but it's the bulb temperature or color that matters right

[nacra99]

13w, so less wattage than what i have, but it's the bulb temperature or color that matters right

Not quite.... 6500 K bulbs have a good light spectrum range for plant growth.
But INTENSITY also matters.
You want to make sure you get a sufficiently high wattage for the light to still reach your plants at a decent intensity.
For a small tank like a 5 gal, two 60 W equivalent (i believe the 60W equivalent draws 13 watts) is or less should allow you to do a low tech tank. 75 W to 100W equivalent CF bulb (18 W - 26W) will be plenty for a high tech tank... not to mention two bulbs.