Did i buy the wrong lighting?? also-online plant retailer?

[mgkaelen]

hi friends.
i bought the 10g tank that i'm planning to make a planted tank. $30 for a complete including filter/hood/etc/everything except a heater which i plan to buy online and IRIDESCENT LIGHTING. don't think i could have gotten a better deal. the ONLY reason i got iridescent lighting was because i saw these bulbs. i'm going to enclose a picture of the box to see if i can fit them. they are FLUORESCENT BULBS. does "iridescent" refer to the lighting system? or the bulbs? because these fluorescent bults have a "plug" like a normal light bulb... hope i'm making myself clear. if anyone could tell me if i bought the wrong crap so i can go return it for the RIGHT stuff, i would appreciate it!

ALSO, does anyone buy live FW plants offline? i've seen madasafish's plants and i <3 them but i can't find anything like that at any of the LFS stores in my area! just wanted to know if online purchasing was an option!
thanks guys!

oh ps the fluorescent lights if you can't read it are 10w each... 20w total for a 10g tank i figure will be able to house live plants and may not need a CO2 filtrate system. they wer only $5 each which leads me to believe they may be crappy/burn out cheap even if they are compatible with my tank?

 

[jsoong]

That is a pic of compact florescent bulb. They are coming out with these for replacement to incandescent bulbs in regular household fixtures. If they fit in your (I assume INCANDESCENT) hood, go for it. The CF bulbs are bulky & might not fit. $5 is about the right price (actually you can find them cheaper in the home lighting section!)

These bulbs doesn't have the spectrum of the fancy aquarium bulbs, but according to Rex the plant guy here, the plants don't care, but you might not like the colour - the light is not pure white, and tend to change the colour of things in your tank.

 

[Robert H]

Those are ten watts, you will need two of them. It will work

 

[mgkaelen]

awesome! i got 2 and will see if they fit!@

 

[medge00]

if you have a standard ten gallon with a standard hood, they will probably fit. I have similar bulbs in my tank. you'll probably still want to get low light plants. I believe coralife makes a similar bulb that is about 6,500 or 6,700 k, which falls into the color spectrum plants supposedly like. A lot of screw in CF tend to be kinda yellow (which looks yucky with fish, IMO), esp. when you buy them at home depot or some place... a bunch of bulbs by coralife or similar companies I have found to be a bit bluer, thus better looking for fish. hope all this helps.

 

[madasafish]

Been seeing a lot of these on Ebay under "lighting." Let me know how they work out on the tank!

Thanx for the compliment. Most LFSs will only stock plants 1X/month for some reason (having to do with the cost of the order or something...), so you should find out from your LFSs when they get their plants in and order some neat species!! My personal favorite ATM is the Anubias barteri "nana," which is a real beaut. In my gallery it's in the "10 Gallon a la Rousseau" pic about 1/3 of the way from the right in the background. Stunning dark green, thick leaves, and it's growing really well in my tank. So many other great possibilities...

Online stores have a good selection, too. And since they don't need to ship as fast, or with as much water as fish places, their prices are decent. I'd recommend trying the forums at www.aquabid.com for good deals. I've just won an auction there for about 70 plants (some stems, some full plants) for which I'm paying $45 (fast shipping included). Compare that with prices at the LFS, and it's a no-brainer. I'm getting over 20 species in the package...!!

There are online stores, too. Just do a search. I've never used them, tho.

 

[betowess]

Check out the plants at the aquabotanic store at: www.aquabotanic.com. You'll be very . And if you really want to get that 10 gallon cracking bright , to grow more than low light plants, check out the 36 watt bright kit at Aquarium Hobby Supply at www.ahsupply.com. I have three of ahsupply's lights on my tanks and they are absolutely terrific. It is a kit, but not too hard to put together and it looks great too. they sell enclosures if you don't want to put a little wooden box together. These lights are 60% brighter than the major brands and cost less, especially the replacement bulbs. HTH

 

[Liz]

I use this company for buying all my fw plants online and they're fantastic.
Excellent quality and great prices
http://www.java-plants.com/


Liz

 

[TankGirl]

I have used these lights in my 10-gal and my plants grew fine, but I did not like the quality of light. They are also hot, so if you have a strip that you can raise up on those adhesive silicon "feet" that would help to get some air in there. I wound up abandoning them after a while, but it is a great way to utilize one of the incandescent hoods for a planted tank.

 

[Dino]

I use www.plantgeek.net
They also sell fertilizers and dosing equipment.
I also work in their forums section.

Best,
dino

 

[Robert H]

Java-plants is probably a cool company, but I am sure they only sell to Europe, not the USA!

Robert H
www.aquabotanic.com