Lighting ?

[cake fan]

I have a 10gal tank with 2x 25w incandescent bulb fixtures (AGA).

I would like to put in a plant or two and I understand that java plants/moss do not need lots of light but would 50w of incandescent be ok?

If not could I purchase Coralife's MINI 20 Watt [ColorMax] Compact Fluorescent (or 10watt) and screw that into the incandescent sockets? Are they interchangeable?

I'd rather stick with the correct bulb for the fixture if at all possible.

 

[TankGirl]

Incandescent bulbs will not do a thing at all for plants, and yes, you can use "pigtail" fluorescents for these fixtures. I have a 10 gal tank set up like that. I don't know what the K rating is for those bulbs, but I know you can get an All-Glass one that is 6500K. I also think you can get 6500K bulbs at Walmart.

 

[malkore]

well, the incandescents aren't totally useless to plants, but they really don't put out enuf lumens per watt to work well. You'd be far better off using any 2 screw-in power compacts that have a U-shaped bulb (don't get the spirals).

 

[czcz]

If possible, paint the hood white as well to maximize reflection. FWIW spiral cfl screw-ins at way too high wattage (2*23w over 8g) did alright for me, with assumption of much loss with restrike and reflection. I've also experienced decent growth with anacharis, hornwort, and java moss under plant-gro and "natural light" incandescent with floor and desk lamps. These are all stopgaps to doing it right (straight bulb flourescents, proper ballast and reflector - ahsupply.com) and playing with variables, but if you're the experimenting type...

(I've finally decided to do it right, and wonder why I didn't earlier)

Hope this helps.