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10 gallon planted tank lighting

6K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
Hey guys, i wanted to set up a 10 gallon planted tank . Should I leave the normal light fixture that came with it, which is about 15 watts i think. Or should I go with a coralife 20" 1 x 28 watt power compact light fixture? Is for a breeding pair of rams :-D..
 
#2 ·
The wattage is fine. But do you have a name on it, know its its full spectrum? Daylight? Anything like that, that's the kinda light plants need to to thrive.
I use normal Daylight's, 6500K on the 10g's you see posted under my aquarium log, works well for me.

Not sure what I'd demand pictures of first the tank now or the ram's or both lol...
 
#3 ·
Agree with Angel's comments. And rams being a quiet little fish will appreciate less light. Floating plants are also good with these and other dwarf cichlids. B.
 
#6 ·
As rams were mentioned, I assume this is the common or blue ram, Mikrogeophagus ramirezi, and you have soft slightly acidic water. Your choice of floating plants is thus almost limitless.

Ceratopteris is one of the best, and thrives in soft acidic water, grows very fast (which indicates an excellent water filter capability, very good for rams who are extremely fussy over water parameters and quality and having a stable environment), produces dozens of daughter plants on the leaves and these can be pulled off and the older plant discarded to keep young vigorous fast-growing plants...you probably get the idea. I still have plants that are descendants by hundreds of generations from one plant purchased in the early 1990's.

Native to SA like the ram you have Salvinia, similar to common duckweed but slightly larger and a beautiful silvery-green sheen to the upper side of the leaves. Also fast growing, as is common duckweed, another option. And Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) is quite lovely, fast growing again, and will bloom with nice small white flowers with golden stamens.

The above are true floating plants. Another option is many of the stem plants which will grow well just floating, since they produce roots all along the stems and these gather nutrients from the water. Cabomba would work well, I have used this to hide fry in tanks. Almost any stem plant would serve, although I would recommend one of the true floating plants since they are almost guaranteed to grow well; they have the advantage of assimilating CO2 from the air, the light at the surface is brightest, and the cover to the tank keeps the air warm and moist. Which is all why floating plants tend to be such fast growers.

Byron.
 
#5 ·
Well there's duckweed....pers I pref Pennywort as floating plant thou, you can plant some in the gravel and let some float and IMO looks neat with the bigger round leaf's.
 
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