Tropical Fish Keeping banner

What type of light fixture should I use for 10g planted

4K views 14 replies 3 participants last post by  trit0n2003 
#1 ·
Setting up my 10g planted tank.

It is going to be mainly
-DIY CO2 with ladder diffuser
-Java moss
-Taiwan Moss
-Dwarf Baby tears
-RCS
-6 Cherry Barbs

I was wondering if i could just buy a new bulb with more intense light and higher watts for for the stock fixture that came with the Aqueon Starter kit

Looks like the normal ones just like this

The back of the fixture says 120v 19W

The bulb in it right now is the standard 15w full spectrum



Or i was looking at getting one of the fixtures from Aquatraders.com


This one - 24inch (will hang over the tank a big but good deal with 2x 6500k T5 HO lamps)
Odyssea T5 High Output Lighting

OR, this one which is a power compact light fixture 36w 50/50 combo lamp
Odyssea Power Compact Lighting


Let me know what you think please!
 
See less See more
1
#10 ·
I actually did a litle more, I got that bulb and rigged up a DIY system with another ballast that is now using the full spectrum bulb that came with the original. So now I'm running 2 15w bulbs over the tank 1 5000k and 1 full spectrum. Looks pretty good so far, I'm getting my Taiwan moss in the mail today too so I'm going to do some aquascaping later woo! Lol
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#11 ·
From my personal experience java moss, peacock or taiwan moss cannot withstand the high light required for DBT. At first I had my 37g tank set up with DBT and the mosses with a T-8 6700 Kelvin bulb with the DIY CO2. The mosses turned brown and died quickly. I bought new moss and put them in my 10g with the regular stock light bulbs and run them for about 8hrs a day. They grow like weeds now. Another thing. I found was they do better if you don't add plant food or any chemicals.

Another thing shrimp are in most fishes diet. There's a good chance your RCS will get eaten by your barbs. This is fine if you are trying to control population. If not you may want to have some hiding places.

Hope this helps!

Feel free to check out my aquariums.
 
#13 ·
It's a 20W. Wattage isn't important unless you are worried about bills. You should be concerned with spectrum and kelvin. The brand and all is under my aquariums. It is a tall 37g and it worked well until I introduced snails. As I have said in other posts the smallest snail will uproot a plant like DBT. I learned the hard way. My DBT eventually became floating plants and with each cleaning I phased it out. The only inverts that I would trust with fine stem plants are dwarf shrimp. I'm not to familiar with barbs as far as their habits but you should make sure whatever fish you are putting in don't like to eat your plants, or are shoaling fish, or like oscars like to redecorate.
 
#14 ·
Ya over the time I've been in the planted area I've found that the WPG isn't as important, but more intensity and spectrum. Example my 75g tall is using 2 x 54 watt 10000k T5 HO bulbs (going to swap out one of the 10k for a 5 or 6.7k soon) and growth is great even though it is only 1.44 wpg technically. So I understand that part lol. I just wanted to see if anyone had experience with a setup like this, my 10g setup with the stock bulb gave me slow growth/ bad color/ etc.

My cherry barbs don't touch anything thank goodness, I had my own experience like yours with the DBT. I was growing a nice lawn of DHG, but my angels decided that they would yank it ALL out. I tried so hard to keep it down and cover it with mesh or something, eventually I just trashed it all lol (waste of money!)

The cherries are very mellow barbs (only barbs I actually like... Tiger barbs are mean haha). But ya I haven't checked the compatability of the RCS and cherry barbs but I will soon.

Oh and I added 3 otos to the tank as well, they weren't doing much in my 75g... My clown pleco eats like a monster and his maz size is only like 4 inches!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top