Hi everyone. I just bought a 15 gallon Top Fin tank from Petsmart. It came with an incandescent hood and bulbs, and I'd like to grow live plants. Nothing fancy, beginner plants are fine. I just want them to grow! So do I need to replace the whole hood and get a fluorescent hood and bulbs?
15 Gallon Top Fin tank, lighting?
- Thread starter NancyDrew
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first of all Welcome to AA!
second, just pick up a couple of spiral CFL bulbs, they are actually better for plants than fluorescent. just make sure the color spectrum is somewhere between 6000k and 7000k (usually 6500k or 6700k) or labeled 'daylight' or 'full spectrum' i believe. the wattage will depend on what kind of plants you want to grow. what kind of fish are you planning on?
second, just pick up a couple of spiral CFL bulbs, they are actually better for plants than fluorescent. just make sure the color spectrum is somewhere between 6000k and 7000k (usually 6500k or 6700k) or labeled 'daylight' or 'full spectrum' i believe. the wattage will depend on what kind of plants you want to grow. what kind of fish are you planning on?
Oh thanks! Good to know! Dumb question, do I get them at a pet store/LFS or somewhere like Target?
As far as what fish we are getting, that is yet to be decided. This is our (me and my kids, age 6 and 4.5) first community tank. We have a 5 gallon Betta tank that has no resident at the moment (cycling). I'm tossing around various ideas for the 15 gallon. Right now I'm deciding between Tetras, Zebra Danios, Platys, and fancy guppies. Maybe some small combo of 2 of those. I'd like an African Dwarf Frog and a Cory or 2 as well. But first I have to decorate, plant, and cycle the tank. So there's time to decide who will get to live in it. I'm sure I'll be back asking questions when we are closer to deciding on fish.
As far as what fish we are getting, that is yet to be decided. This is our (me and my kids, age 6 and 4.5) first community tank. We have a 5 gallon Betta tank that has no resident at the moment (cycling). I'm tossing around various ideas for the 15 gallon. Right now I'm deciding between Tetras, Zebra Danios, Platys, and fancy guppies. Maybe some small combo of 2 of those. I'd like an African Dwarf Frog and a Cory or 2 as well. But first I have to decorate, plant, and cycle the tank. So there's time to decide who will get to live in it. I'm sure I'll be back asking questions when we are closer to deciding on fish.
DragonFish71
Great white snark
You can get them at Walmart, target or anywhere that sells light bulbs.
The Daylight 6500k are what I use for my planted tanks.
The Daylight 6500k are what I use for my planted tanks.
Nice! sounds like you're off to a wonderful start! you can pick the light bulbs up at walmart or any hardware store or home depot or lowes. just figure out how many watts you wantband make sure they are in the right color spectrum. you won't want to go over 1 watt per gallon unless you plan on adding CO2 or ferts, which it sounds like you won't be getting into that. there is a great thread in the planted tanks section (this section ) with a bunch of links to help you figure out how much lighting and how many watts you will need/want. go ahead and start another thread if you can't figure out the wattage, I know there are many people here who are great at planted tanks and will be able to tell you what you need.
go ahead and post some pics when you have your tank set up, we love pics here!
and don't forget to vote for aquarium advice at aquarank.com!
thanks and good luck!!
) with a bunch of links to help you figure out how much lighting and how many watts you will need/want. go ahead and start another thread if you can't figure out the wattage, I know there are many people here who are great at planted tanks and will be able to tell you what you need. go ahead and post some pics when you have your tank set up, we love pics here!
and don't forget to vote for aquarium advice at aquarank.com!
thanks and good luck!!
Awesome, thanks! Wasn't sure if I had to find some special aquarium CFL bulbs or if the regular ones were fine as long as they fit certain parameters. The hood has some recommendations on wattage, so I will double check that and read up on what bulbs to get. My Betta tank is planted too, but that came with a decent bulb. They did all the thinking for me on that one . I'll post pics of that soon. Gotta work on cycling it!
Thanks again, everyone.
. I'll post pics of that soon. Gotta work on cycling it! Thanks again, everyone.
More questions!
I've been looking for light bulbs, and can't seem to figure out what to get. The hood says not to use more than 25W. I'm assuming that means per side (it is an incandescent hood, with 2 spots for bulbs). The bulbs that came with the hood are 15W each. Would I replace with something like this:
Mini Compact Fluorescent
Is there a non-blue version of that? Is the blue part OK? Why is it blue, lol? I looked at Home Depot and the grocery store, and couldn't find anything that would work. There weren't any long CFL bulbs, just the regular spiral ones, and if I use those they will touch the sides of the reflector on the hood. I'm assuming I don't want that to happen, right? The only tubular CFL bulbs I saw had a pin base, and I need something that screws in. Also you guys mentioned 6,000-7,000K of daylight, do you mean total between the 2 bulbs? Argh, I'm so confused!
I've been looking for light bulbs, and can't seem to figure out what to get. The hood says not to use more than 25W. I'm assuming that means per side (it is an incandescent hood, with 2 spots for bulbs). The bulbs that came with the hood are 15W each. Would I replace with something like this:
Mini Compact Fluorescent
Is there a non-blue version of that? Is the blue part OK? Why is it blue, lol? I looked at Home Depot and the grocery store, and couldn't find anything that would work. There weren't any long CFL bulbs, just the regular spiral ones, and if I use those they will touch the sides of the reflector on the hood. I'm assuming I don't want that to happen, right? The only tubular CFL bulbs I saw had a pin base, and I need something that screws in. Also you guys mentioned 6,000-7,000K of daylight, do you mean total between the 2 bulbs? Argh, I'm so confused!
timwag2001
Aquarium Advice FINatic
i use the spiral ones and made them fit.
the k rating is the color spectrum of the bulb its not something you add together. its the spectrum of each bulb.
now picture a rainbow. you can see all of the colors of the spectrum. some of those colors the plants dont use.
the k rating is the color spectrum of the bulb its not something you add together. its the spectrum of each bulb.
now picture a rainbow. you can see all of the colors of the spectrum. some of those colors the plants dont use.
right, you don't want to add the k ratings together, you want to make sure that they are all the same (somewhere between 6000k and 7000k). the wattage is what you add together for a total wattage of light on the tank.
Ok, after going to Target, Menards, the grocery store, Ace Hardware, Petco, and Petsmart, I couldn't find anything suitable. I decided to look online, and found this on a website:
Great. At least that explains why I couldn't find anything at any of the stores.
But they seem to have the correct bulb in stock right now, so I can order that. I just have one last question. Here is the product description:
So, my aquarium hood says the maximum wattage for the hood is 50W (25 per bulb). So does this bulb count as a 13W bulb or a 60W bulb?
Great.
At least that explains why I couldn't find anything at any of the stores. But they seem to have the correct bulb in stock right now, so I can order that. I just have one last question. Here is the product description:
So, my aquarium hood says the maximum wattage for the hood is 50W (25 per bulb). So does this bulb count as a 13W bulb or a 60W bulb?
timwag2001
Aquarium Advice FINatic
13. i'm surprised you couldnt find any. i just got one from target the other day
Maybe I was looking at the part that said "This bulb replaces a 60W bulb"? I did find some low wattage bulbs, but none that had anywhere near 6500K daylight. I don't know. I can go look again tomorrow, I guess. I'd rather not buy online and pay $10 for shipping on a $5 bulb.
