Noob questions on starting a planted tank

[wademan]

In the process of planning a 10 gallon planted tank. The plans after research so far are eco-complete substrate, hob aquatech filter w/ carbon removed (water level high), DIY co2 injection, and i guess thats it.

The first of many questions I am sure I will ask here....

I was wondering if two 20W coralife colormax CF bulbs is enough light to support gloso and other high light plants? I want a very lush aquascape with a nice foreground and since I dont want to invest in a nicer hood for the 10 gallon the 20W's are the best light I can find.

Another question.... what is the best test kit to buy for your money? I havent found any good info on good test kits and the walmart one isnt cutting it any more.


Thanks for any help.

 

[rich311k]

The ap test is very good. 40w over ten is probably enough the rules break down over ten gallons or less but that is a lot of light.

This kit: http://bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19383;category_id=2255

and this one:

http://bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=29507;category_id=3241

 

[Hoovercat]

I've done the colormax bulbs over a 10 before and don't consider it high light. First the reflectors in a 10's hood really suck. Second, the construction of the Coralife bulbs causes some of the light produced to be blocked by the bulb itself. You can get lush growth but should stick to medium light plants.

 

[wademan]

Thanks for the links, those kits are a great deal.

As for the lights, if I were to build some nice reflectors to get nearly all of the light going into the tank would it still not be enough to be considered high light? I really want to grow some gloso and ricca.......

 

[czcz]

This guy did it with 40watt CF over a 10g: http://glassaqua.tk/

I did not get an extremely low grown and dense glosso carpet with 26w CF + 20w NO over 8g, but am starting to think it was a nutrient problem. It did grow Riccia.

 

[sudz]

I HAD a 25 watt incandesent general bulb... it grew java fern... "grew" it was fairly yellowed though. I bought a 10 watt PC bulb for a normal socket, its probably 5 times "brigher" in the tank, and with CO2, my plants have probably just about doubled their size in just over a month :|

 

[crazycat]

everything i've read indicates that glosso requires a lot of co2 and ferts. will you have a source for co2?

 

[wademan]

Yes DIY co2 is planned.