Ok, I'm confused..

[Gundy]

Alright so I just picked up a secondary aquarium hood for one of my small planted 10 gallons I keep ADFs in. Its a Aqua Ace BioPlant 15W.

The only thing I questioned and this maybe a retarded question - but does glass tops block the needed 'spectum/rays' for light? For instance, bearded dragons need UVB light which is put out by a fluorescent bulb, but if you have glass in the way of the light it will be reflected and won't penetrate. Even using a screen top, the rays are not as effective as just laying over the top of the cage with nothing in the way of the bulb.

Anywho, does this apply to lighting for plants? Also is this bulb ok? I've got some Melon Swords and various other swords I would like to see flourish. If not, whats a recommendation for a good bulb?

I apologize if this has been stated before, I was digging through the faq and only found something mentioning bulbs in the 5k-10k range should be used for planted tanks. I have no idea what this bulb is...

I also have another lid that was bought from walmart which included incandescent bulbs, but I bought small fluorescent bulbs that are similar screw in type like house bulbs.. if that makes sense.. There are screw in type fluorescent bulbs in that hood.

Reading on the screw in flourescent bulbs - 2110AQ N Self Ballasted Lamp, 120V, 60HZ,10W.

 

[Purrbox]

I'm not sure on the specifics of your bulb as I haven't heard of it before. It may not be the most ideal, but it's probably just fine. It's more about making sure that there's enough light anyway, so if you've got 30 watts between both the old fixture and the new one you've go a resonable start. Probably around low to medium low light.

The glass canopy will filter out some of the light. They're helpful at keeping jumpers in the tank and reducing evaporation. Without them you get more light making it into the tank and less over heating due to increased evaporation. Really it's a matter of what works best for you and your particular aquarium.

 

[Gundy]

Ok I purchased a couple new bulbs. Got a deal on them so I decided to get them both. Should I use them both together in my 10 gal planted? Should I use these two together, right now I just slapped the new Coralife in with the bioplant bulb I had already on the tank.

Coralife 10,000K 15W. Mentions 10,000 Kevlin High Intensity Purified Super-Daylight Lamp with rare earth color-enhancing phospers.

ZooMed TropicSun 5500K Daylight 15W

 

[gheitman]

Red melon swords require more light than what you would get from just a single 15W bulb. I recommend that you use both and fertilize the plant with a root tab such as Flourish Tabs because swords are heavy root feeders.

 

[newfound77951]

I have two 15 watt strips on a 10g and it works well. Both those bulbs are fine and should give you a nicely colored light that is not too yellow or blue.

As far as the UV goes, yes the glass blocks it but so does the water....so while your bearded dragon needs the UV light, your plants and fish don't get it anyway because the water blocks it. So the cover doesn't matter in that respect. The standard fishtank hoods need to have the cover in place as the fittings are not waterproof.