Plants, Lightning and fish

[Neuve]

Lets say i want to have a planted tank.
A good pal told me i would not be able to have a planted tank since i use an UGF, so i should change to HOB F if i wanted any real plants in my tank.

So... Kindof a dilemma here. I use HOB F and UGF on the 10 gal. so... I would mess only a little lol with my cycle.

Next issue. Lightning. I got a lamp with 2 25W bulbs each. Normal, rounded bulbs, not fluorescent. Picture enclosed. Should i change to fluorescent? It wouldnt be a problem, just unmounting it, taking the subway, and pay 8 bucks for the replacement. So lets hear it.

Next. What kind of plants have i got.

I've got weird plants, i only know the name of one, amazonia. The others are a complete mystery. Picture enclosed.

What other kind of plants i want.

Java moss. It totally kicks ass.

TIA
Pato

 

[Neuve]

Did research and think one is anacharis.
BTW, forgot to mention fish.

I dont want my fish to go blind with the lightning.

I goss flame and blood fin tetras, corys and CAE.

 

[tkos]

Yes, you need to change the lights. A minimum of 2 watts per gallon is what I would shoot for , but 3 would be better. If you unplug the UGF and add plants the plants will help stop any small cycle that may occur.

Just make sure with the HOB that you don't change the filter media too often. Since it will be holding a good portion of bacteria you will just want to rinse the media everytime you have a water change to get the gunk out.

 

[tkos]

All of your fish are great though I should mention (hope this wasn't mentioned before) that a CAE is not a great idea for a 10 gallon tank. They can grow to 10 inches and will terrorize the tank. A better choice is ottos. They stay small and are very peaceful.

 

[Guest]

When we talk watts per gallon we are talking florescent watts per gallon. And actually on a 10 gallon tank you normally need more that 2 watts per gallon. This is typical of shallow tanks. It's hard to get a decent light spread in a 12" deep tank. I know people that are growing high light plants in a 10 gallon and using more in the lines of 6 watts per gallon.

 

[Neuve]

Cool. Ill go change em next saturday (saturday is fish-shopping day) Is there any way to immediately tell if youre getting fluorescent/non-fluorescent lights??

So were talking about buying a 30 watt lamp aight???

Having said this, i should look for a 30 watt power source and a 30 watt lightbulb? I suppose, just wana be shure

Last, my CAE's lol, seems everybody's got a bad experience with em. I'm so attaced to them they are preety nice, and they arent as lacy as plecostomus... Ill have to do research on ottos tho, considering the BIG chances of my CAE's getting enormous. Their lenght right now is less than an inch.

 

[jsoong]

What you have now are incandescent lights. The only other bulbs that <might> fit in are the compact fluorescent - they fit in regular light sockets, but are a bit bulky, so you might not have room for them. Also I've read that the compact fluorescent have the wrong spectrum of light for plants, so you might want to get "real" fluorescent lights.

Traditional fluorescent lights are long tubes coated inside with "phosphors", different coating gives different kinds of light - cool white, warm white, full spectrum, etc. These tubes require special fixtures & ballasts and will not fit in what you have.

Although I have heard of people retrofitting incandescent canopy with fluorescent, I have no personal experience. Any one out there with the info?

As for me, I use a GE "Glo-Tube" for my 10 gal. This is a 33 watt flourescent tube & balast all sealed in one compact unit. It comes in 2 varieties: a warm white for people use, and a "full spectrum" for plants. I found these at home depot for $28 & Walmart for $18. (Canadian prices ... less in US $). They are, however, 25 inches long & will not fit inside a 10 gal canopy. I mounted the light on a shelf that overhangs the tank.

My setup means doing without a canopy, but then I have fantail goldfish & they don't jump out of tanks!

Hope this shed some light on the situation.....

 

[Neuve]

Thanx I will do more searches on this situation. I'll think about it in friday. We'll see how it ends...

 

[betowess]

I retro-ed an incandescent plastic hood to a PC on an 18 gallon (same dimensions as your ten but taller) with a kit. It was expensive, though PC prices have since come way down. I like Jsongs solution with the shelf. The light could still shine down through an all glass top too and the price for that GE is great!!!

For me, if I was gonna pop for a decent light, and retro-fits aren't cheap, I would up the ante and get a bigger tank. Like at least a 30 gallon. They're easier to keep up and more bang for the buck. Why stop there. Get a 55 gallon... or a 90.. go for it, a 120 gallons!!! LOL Betowess
P.S. I think the other plant is a Val and little Ottos rock (Otocinclus)

 

[Neuve]

Lol, id love to get a 30 gal'er. (Im really just looking for a place to put it. And i want to learn to keep a little tank before i buy a big ass tank so i know how to do it right. I was thinking on having it planted. Peeps said i wouldnt be able to use UGF's so theres one thing id have to consider id like to have a 2 meter x 50 cm's x 60 cm's or so (im mexican, think in metric system), a big one. Just to have any kind of species there... Im thinking it's capacity would be like 30, 50 gal. That would kick ass, but back to reality lol. Im gonna wait a year or so till i have my 4 tanks fully cycled, my tests (have not bought em, still saving) So thanx for your advice and ill consider that 120 gal.