Help with aquarium lights.

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Kristian Tombs

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Messages
379
In the hood at the moment I have the LED strip that came with the tank. It's low light. But I wanna grown some moderate light plants and I was wondering how can I up the lighting and improve. I'm a lighting noob!
 
Well, for starters, what size tank is this, and what's your budget for this? I would also recommend you look into using a carbon supplement like Excel in addition to fertilizers for maximum plant health, assuming you don't want to get into Excel.
 
Well, for starters, what size tank is this, and what's your budget for this? I would also recommend you look into using a carbon supplement like Excel in addition to fertilizers for maximum plant health, assuming you don't want to get into Excel.

10 gallon tank already using
a plant substrate
a weekly fertiliser
a daily fertiliser
a daily API Liquid CO2 Supplement

Just my lighting is not the best. I was thinking of buying two more led strips and putting them in
 
For a 10g, the generic hoods with screw in light sockets can work great for an affordable option to get good light. If you use 10-15w CFL bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs, you can achieve fairly significant light levels, or at least enough to get in trouble.
 
For a 10g, the generic hoods with screw in light sockets can work great for an affordable option to get good light. If you use 10-15w CFL bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs, you can achieve fairly significant light levels, or at least enough to get in trouble.
my hood is part of a kit and has no bulb sockets :(
 
I had a similar problem also for a small tank. I bought a 2 socket clip on desk lamp- and used 2 aquarium bulbs. The neck is adjustable- so it can be directed to specific areas if heavy planting.

It cost me about $9

The other option would be to buy a new hood- and light and bulbs- $75 or more...
Good luck!
 
I had a similar problem also for a small tank. I bought a 2 socket clip on desk lamp- and used 2 aquarium bulbs. The neck is adjustable- so it can be directed to specific areas if heavy planting. It cost me about $9 The other option would be to buy a new hood- and light and bulbs- $75 or more... Good luck!
. Are aquarium LEDs any good?
 
. Are aquarium LEDs any good?

They aren't great for plants- you have to get a specific spectrum like the folks above me said^^

I recommend a desk lamp with aquarium bulbs for plants- way cheaper.

Or invest in the whole new hood-lid-light set up

Side note- you can sell your existing LEDs and lid for some cash.
 
They aren't great for plants- you have to get a specific spectrum like the folks above me said^^ I recommend a desk lamp with aquarium bulbs for plants- way cheaper. Or invest in the whole new hood-lid-light set up Side note- you can sell your existing LEDs and lid for some cash.

My tank came as part of a kit and it is attached to the tank. I don't know how to remove it tbh.

How would I get a new hood?
I thought about just buying some bulbs but there is no socket on the hood.

Can I just buy bulbs and attach them to the mood someway?
Can I suctioncup a bulb to a hood?
 
This is my set up for my 5

Just some visual aids to what I recommend. seems to be working very well for me.

He loves to rest right on top of the tree I 'scaped ontop of the dwarf hairgrass hill.
 

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my hood is part of a kit and has no bulb sockets :(

You would have to get a new hood to get the kind of light you're talking about. The one I'm referring to is this one. The clip-on lamps will work as well, but IMO can be unsightly and likely won't be much cheaper that the hood I linked.


The thing about LEDs is that to get anything worth having, you need to pay a lot of money. If you're paying less than ~$70 for LEDs, it's probably not worth it IMO.
 
You would have to get a new hood to get the kind of light you're talking about. The one I'm referring to is this one. The clip-on lamps will work as well, but IMO can be unsightly and likely won't be much cheaper that the hood I linked. The thing about LEDs is that to get anything worth having, you need to pay a lot of money. If you're paying less than ~$70 for LEDs, it's probably not worth it IMO.
is there no way to feed the wire through and put a bulb in the nood via suction cups?
 
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