10 Gal Lighting..

[Qs Evolution]

I'm in the process of purchasing equipment for a 10 gallon planted tank I'm building..
I have everything already but... Lighting!!!... I was wondering what light fixture would work out best.. At a good price...
I have a glass lid on it now.. Please give me y'alls opinion. Thanks!!!!

[Qs Evolution]

Anyone.??

[mistahoo]

Are you looking for something cheap? Low, med, high lighting? LEDs, CFL, T5, or T5HO

[Qs Evolution]

My budget is under 100$$$
and no I have LED's..
Maybe some t5's?
Im not sure about brightness... I have no idea what kind of plants I want to keep.

[mistahoo]

I would research what plants you want so you can plan appropriately. Also is the tank those standard 10gal you can pick up any store?

[mistahoo]

There's the Finnex Ray 2 7000k DS 16" which costs about $60 and the 24" version which costs right under $100. It's a really great LED fixture. Medium to high light output with adjustable legs. I'm not quite familiar with any T5 fixtures other than the Coralife ones, so I'm not sure what to recommend.

[Qs Evolution]

Yeah it's a standard 10 gallon. I wish I had a rimless one. But I had this 10 in my closet. So I figured I'd do a planted tank. I already have the Fluval ebi and a aqueon 8 both planted but have medium light on it.. I like the style of those coralifes.. But I'll check out those rays right now on amazon

[mistahoo]

I have one on my Fluval Chi. It's ridiculously bright! It doesn't get hot. Well at least mine doesn't and I run it for about 12-18 hours. Saves money on the electricity bill, and it's very slim! There's only two cons I see in the fixture. The legs are quite flimsy, so don't tighten it too much. The second con is that the cable is VERY short. I think it's about 3ft?

[Qs Evolution]

Quick question is the Caribsea floramax any good.?

[mistahoo]

Can't say. I've only used black sandblasting sand, ADA Amazonia, Seachem Onyx, and pool filter sand.

[mnemenoi]

I have never tried Floramax, but Stratum is decent. Eco-Complete, Brightwell, Flourite, and PFS have all done terrific for our planted tanks. As far as T5HO goes, there is a guy on Ebay out of Houston selling 2 bulb fixtures for around $50 that do quite well. Not sure what a quad would run you, but well under $100 dollars. You can specify spectrum for the bulbs when ordering, 6500K or 10,000K.

[mistahoo]

Re: 10 Gal Lighting..

Lol I don't think a quad is necessary for a 10G!

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.

[mnemenoi]

LOL, I'll agree though we have a 72 watt fixture above one of our 10 gallons. Usually only run one light (36 watts) at a time though, otherwise it can be an algae farm... Plants always do well in that tank for some reason....

[Qs Evolution]

You said plants do well in a 10 gallon ? Or with your 72 watts??

[Qs Evolution]

This is what I have on hands.. I feel it's a little tacky. But I have no idea how it'll work out with both of them.. I'm running a 26watt 6500k under the exo terra fixture.. If I do this setup ill be running those LEDs inside underneath the glass hood... It's seems pretty bright to me.