10 gallon lighting? for plants

[swomley93]

Does anyone know what kind of " house hold type" light bulbs that would be good for lighting my 10 gallon planted tank? I have black sand and I'll be using root tabs and flourish excel but I know lighting is the most important I know the 2 to 5 watt per gallon rule but I don't know what specs I looking for my fixture will hold two regular light bulbs not the round one but the spiral ones the round ones are too wide

 

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

I recommend using a dome lamp like this...

With a 6500k (or cool white) spiral CFL bulb like this...

This will give you more then enough lighting for a 10 gallon planted tank, make sure to get 6500k bulbs or a cool white CFL bulb.

 

[swomley93]

I recommend using a dome lamp like this...

With a 6500k (or cool white) spiral CFL bulb like this...

This will give you more then enough lighting for a 10 gallon planted tank, make sure to get 6500k bulbs or a cool white CFL bulb.

OK awesome thank you for the reply, any type of specific wattage for this bulb?

 

[rooto56]

23 Watts or higher depending on what you're growing.

 

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

^^^^ What they said lol


Also since it sounds like you prefer using black sand you can do the following....

What I do when I want to use sand for a planted tank I do a mock layout of the tank design on paper, and figure out where the plants will go. Then I add DIY root tabs to the bottom of the tank, and add a 3" thick pile of Flourite in the spot/s where I'll placing the plants, then I'll cover (cap) the Flourite, and the rest of the tank with 1/4"-1/2" of sand.

What this does is not only help the plants root structure to grow, it also firmly keeps the place in place. Since Flourite has a high CEC (cation exchange capacity) which means it soaks up nutrients in the water, and release them slowly back to the plants.

 

[swomley93]

OK awesome thank you very much I appreciate the info!