2 Lights 1 Tank... Help! Plus Dwarf Hairgrass Question

by **Promthanom** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:48 am

2 girls 1 cup? nooo :P

Hello again!
I need to replace the light in my tank and need some help on which is better suited for what I have growing.

Tank Info:
10g (20x10x12H)
Topfin 10 filter
Hood that takes only ONE 18" T8 bulb
2 anubias nanas
A lot of java moss
2 - 3 inches of flourite substrate
7 neon tetras
Flourish excel instead of CO2 machine thingy
A heater thingy
A air stone thingy
Various decor thingys
and a partrich in a freaking pear tree!

Lights:
1 Aqua-glo 18" 15w 18,000k (a gift from a male neighbor friend who kinda freaks me out sometimes)
https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/ ... =12763&r=2
OR
1 Aqueon/All-Glass 18" 15w 8,000k full spectrum daylight (currently using but needs to be replaced soon)
https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/ ... 2850&r=559
OR
any really good suggestions.

Dwarf Hairgrass:
I'm thinking about getting some and was wondering if it will grow well with what I have above.

Again, any help will be much appreciated! Thanks!
-Jane

by **Peterkarig3210** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 8:47 pm

Can you use 2 bulbs at once? Dwarf hair grass takes a LOT of light to grow.

by **Promthanom** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 11:01 pm

The current hood I have will only take 1 bulb. I could try to find a hood that takes 2 but will that be too much light for the anubias nanas and java moss? Remember my tank is only 10g and shallow.

by **Peterkarig3210** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 12:20 am

I think you will be fine with more light. I have anubias, java fern and java moss, dwarf hairgrass, baby tears, tiger lilly, and a couple other plants all in my higher light tank.

I'm not really an expert on lights though.

by **Tmercier834747** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 2:24 pm

This one would give you 3.6 wpg - enough to grow dwarf hair grass. However, without a continual flow of Co2 while dosing with ferts you could see some algae growth. Its also a bit spendy (As most fixtures are unless you're PK and just find them laying around).

http://www.marinedepot.com/Coralife_12_ ... 24-vi.html

Obviously you'd want a 20" fixture to fit an 18" bulb but its hard to find good PC fixtures that give enough wattage for plant growth (at least for me). 36w over a 10gal is quite good, even if the fixture isn't as wide as the tank.

Whatever you go with I wouldn't recommend only 18,000k bulbs. 6700-10000k is optimal for plants. Anything higher is leaning toward SaltWtr setups.

by **Promthanom** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 12:17 pm

@Peterkarig: I agree with you about being fine with more light. I was just thinking like a gardener with land plants. Some potted plants can't handle alot of direct sunlight :)

@Tmercier83: I'm really not too concern about algae. I had an out break of brown algae/diatoms a couple months back and used AlgaeFix (safe on fish and plants) and no more algae! As for the hood you suggested, THANKS! I may buy that. If my idea below doesn't work...

I've been reading over at plantgeeks site and here and just googled my way thur other 10g owners who wanted more watts for their tanks as well and found this solution...

I found a 20" hood for a 10g tank that comes with 2 incandescent screw in bulbs for $20. I'm thinking of replacing the incandescent bulbs with two 18w 6500k CFL mini twist bulbs I found at Lowes.com for about $4 a piece. The hood will take up to 25w in each socket and it already has metal reflectors for the bulbs, tho CFLs don't really heat up as bad as incandescents.

Now my problem is.. would 6500k be ok for the plants I have now and the dwarf hairgrass? Tmercier83 says 6700k - 10000k is optimal(best) so would 6500k be considered adequate? I want my plants to grow but not to the point of me having to buy an underwater lawnmower and mow every few days :P

by **Tmercier834747** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 3:59 pm

yeah. Optimal is not necessity afterall. :) Goodluck.

by **Peterkarig3210** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 7:39 am

There are also really good compact flourescens that are designed as high light aquarum lights...

Just can't remember thr brand.. It would give sa lot more light than the department store brands. I thionk they're likw $20-$40 bucks, but they screw into an incandecent fixture.

I'll try to remember the brand.

2 Lights 1 Tank... Help! Plus Dwarf Hairgrass Question

8 posts