Lighting question

[ajwetton]

I want to change the hood on my 10g tank and was wondering which would be better does incandesent vs florissant matter for plants? Only options I saw in my area were 2 25w bulb option (incandesent) or 1 15w Florissant t8 bulb. Or my crappy led setup lol which I hate.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

What's your budget? You want to grow low light plants or high? Co2 injection?

 

[ajwetton]

Mainly low light, I don't mind having to do liquid co2 but I kinda wanna avoid putting in a co2 system any kid I'm new to plants and so it'll mainly be low light hearty plants.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

A finnex Fugeray would do just fine on a low light 10g.

 

[ajwetton]

I'm ok getting rid of LED, I just don't wanna get an incandesent or florresent that's not gonna help plants and does It have to be one over the other for better plant growth or does either work just as well.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

You can probably do the incandescent hood and swap out the bulbs for full spectrum daylight CFL's then.

 

[ajwetton]

Is that bulbs I'd be swapping for another incandesent bulb? What kind of wattage am I looking for etc? I wouldn't mod getting up to moderate light plants but I know low light plants are usually easier to care for. Sorry for me being confused this is my introduction into planted tanks.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Well I've almost always done LEDs and that's why i recommended the finnex Fugeray as its very efficient and effective at low light planted aquariums. However, I've seen numerous hobbyists here use full spectrum daylight CFL's (compact florescent lights) in standard lightbulb (incandescent) hoods/sockets to save money.

You just have to look for CFL's that say "full spectrum" and "daylight" on the box. The light temperature is usually between 6500K to 10,000K. I believe they're about 13 to 18w?

Sorry I'm not an expert using this type of lighting on aquariums. I just seen others use it. You might want to research it, use the search function on this forum, and/or google it...unless someone chimes in here. Good luck!