Lighting solution for 10 gallon

[mattmathis]

I am trying to put together ideas etc for starting a 10 gallon planted tank. I want to be able to grow mid to high light plants. And I want to have a nice carpet, probably Glossostigma. I will be using fluorite. And PPS-Pro dosing with dry ferts.

I want to get as close to "high light" as I can get with the 10 gallon. I made a fixture for my 70 gallon to go with the 48in T-10 40 watt fixture that came with it. It has 2x 32 watt T-8 bulbs, and together they light the 70 pretty well. So I guess I'll build a light for the 10 gallon too.

So, would 4x 15 watt T-8 bulbs on a 10 gallon be "high light"? or would I need to try for a higher "light intensity"? And if so, what would be the best route to get more intensity, without spending much?

Thanks!!!

 

[fort384]

For that small of a tank, you might be better off using T5's (not T5 HO's). I retrofitted 2 T5 fixtures into my old hood that I use in conjunction with 2 T5HOs that are in my NOVA extreme fixture on my 29G. You can find 6500K T5 bulbs on the internet for cheap The fixtures themselves I bought from home depot for like $18 for the pair and just mounted them up inside the hood. The fixtures are only like ½" wide each, and each produces 13W (I would think 4 of those would be high light, and it might make it easier to get access to the tank with smaller bulb size). They also can be strung together with parts included in the kit, so wiring them up is a breeze, with only 1 plug coming out the end. If you want I can take a picture of them.

 

[Purrbox]

Aiming for 60+ WPG should get you into the High Light range.

 

[czcz]

While I don't post about it much because I think Plantbrain is right in that too many times people spend too much time on light, and the guidelines cannot be used in my current (sunlit) tank, the Lumens/sq in calculators and spreadsheets you'll find on this forum do a great job as guides/ballpark figures of how you can expect your tank to act under (almost) any given light. You should use them to help narrow down your choices when shopping and stuff.