Newbie lighting questions.

[patryuji]

I have been reading all of the excellent information available here and on some of the linking sites (as well as skimming through a couple of books at the book store). I haven't seen very many conclusive decisions concerning the use of screw in type cfls. Home Depot has available "compact" Compact fluorescent Lights that are just barely larger than the incandescent bulbs which came with my cheap starter kit. These bulbs are 14W each, 5500K and only $12 for a pack of 3 (far cheaper than trying to get a new hood and the tube fluorescent lights which run about $8 each at the cheapest for a 15W light). This gives me 2.8W per gallon for a 10gallon tank. Now, can I use one 14W fluorescent and a 10W incandescent where the fluorescent will be used directly above plants moneywort) and the incandescent will be above plastic plants (and maybe a java fern would lay somewhere between the two lighting schemes to accommodate a more moderate lighting level for it). Or should I just use a lower wattage CFL which I do not know what Kelvin rating the light spectrum it puts out is on the non-planted side? Or the final option is to just avoid using low to moderate light plants and keep both 14W CFLs that are rated at 5500K.

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya patryuji and welcome to Aquariumadvice

I'd suggest using 2 of the 14w compacts for the tank if you can. The more light the better, plus incandescents give off an awful lot of heat comparatively.

 

[patryuji]

Alright thanks...I was also considering that now in the winter heat an incandescent would not give me a problem but summers would not go over well with the incandescent heat emissions. I guess I'll just use some taller plants to shade the lower light plants (though I was wanting to keep only two different plant species for right now so I'll have to see if I can grow enough of the moneywort to provide shade).