lighting

[rickykline]

what kind of lighting would you all recommend for my 10 gallon planted tank.. i put in dwarf hair grass and i think i should upgrade from the little bit of lighting that i have to something more potent.. i have a two small incandecent bulb hood on it now with two wal mart "plant bulbs" they are the kind that look like energy saving bulbs.. what can i do to upgrade without breaking the bank??? lol

im dosing with brightwell potassuim and iron once every other day. and i have a diy co2 on the tank as well..

[Tiapan]

Re: lighting

if they are 10 watt screw in compact flourecents i wouldnt change it at all. unless you want to replace with a larger pc bulb. but i have had great success with that setup. i like the eclipse screw in 11 watt or 10 watt (depends on where you get it i cant remmember what they are exactly) to replace the incadenscents. thats around 2 watts pre gallon in a shallow tank and i have never had a problem growing anything in that. you can get a pc light thats like 32-36 watts easy for that tank if you really think you need to upgrade but i think you are fine. as long as you have a substrate that the hairgrass reall likes. also maybe wanna put co2 in there for super growth. but i usualyl go a little lower tech (gotta save money where i can :wink: )

[rickykline]

Re: lighting

ok i do have co2 on the tank now. i just put it on the other day and i can tell that the plants are much greener now then before..

[Tiapan]

Re: lighting

sounds like u r doing fine. what co2 unit are u using, a fermentation one or presurized.

[rickykline]

Re: lighting

its a diy setup so i guess fermanation?

[eklikewhoa]

Re: lighting

The hairgrass will start to brown at the base and then all die if there is not enough lighting over the tank.....IMO I would try and add more light.

[rickykline]

Re: lighting

how could i get more light? can i still use the hood with maybe more powerful lights? or should i just replace the hood altogether and get a different lighting system all together? what would you recommend?

[rickykline]

Re: lighting

i was looking at this setup but its only 4 watts more than what i have..

setup

[eklikewhoa]

Re: lighting

Actually......it's probably gonna have a better reflector then what you have in your hooded light so that alone is gonna put more light into the tank and then the light itself is more efficient then the hood light.

[rickykline]

Re: lighting

good call i was looking at the reflectors in my hood yesterday and they are all stained up and hard water spotted..

[rickykline]

Re: lighting

does anyone use a night light? like moon lights for a saltwater tank?

[Mzungu]

Re: lighting

Do you mean does anyone use moonlights? Not sure I understand the question...

[eklikewhoa]

Re: lighting

I have moonlights on my saltwater tank.....it's only on for an hour before and after the light cycle though.

[rickykline]

Re: lighting

yeah i was wondering if anyone uses any sorta moon light on fresh water tanks?

[Mzungu]

Re: lighting

I do, if my fixture happens to have them...