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Light bulb for 10gal. tank? Need advice

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Posted by inguvap z6 NJ (My Page) on
Mon, Jun 6, 05 at 14:23

Hi! I bought a hood for my 10gal terrarium tank which comes with fluorescent light strip (only one bulb) which takes a 18" bulb. I am planning to buy this light bulb but I want to makesure whether this is sufficient lighting. Please take a look at it and let me know. I have tillandsias and ferns in my terrarium and they are not doing very well since I have it without lights next to a window and most of the time I forget to keep the blinds up to get the light into the tank.

Here is a link that might be useful: the bulb I want to buy

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RE: Light bulb for 10gal. tank? Need advice

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The cool white is a good idea, but you won't be able to run a high-output or very high output bulb on a regular fluo. ballast. You should check the manufacturer's specs on the light strip you bought. One bulb won't be enough alone, but it should be okay in combination with light from the window, as long as you remember to keep the blinds up! If this is not what you wanted to hear, I'd return the light hood and get a better one. You could simply cover the top of your tank with a piece of glass cut to fit, and then you can place many different light fixtures on top. I've got one on my 5 gal. CP terr. that holds two compact fluo's. They're the pin type, about $15 per bulb, I think. I got it from the fish store where my hubby works. The fixture was about $90. I don't think they have such things at big box stores like PetSmart, so try your local small fish store.

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RE: Light bulb for 10gal. tank? Need advice

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Sahoya! Could you look into this and let me know whether this is good? How many watts and how many lumens is needed at a minimum per gallon space?
Padma.

Here is a link that might be useful: Another light fixture

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RE: Light bulb for 10gal. tank? Need advice

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I find that on average, 1 to 2 watts per gallon is good for terrarium plants. That's based on using compact fluo's, using the 'incandescent equivalent' wattage rather than the actual wattage. I have no idea how many lumens that is, and I'm not sure if I kept that info., since I sold my large terrarium. You'd probably want to go with closer to 2 watts a gallon in order for your tillies to have enough light to bloom. The spectrum of that light is entirely wrong, however. You want something like natural sunlight, that is, 6500-6700K. 10,000K is way too blue, and would make your tank look very cold and dim (the human eye doesn't see blue light very well). That bulb would be good for a fishtank, because blue light penetrates water the best. It would look very weird on a terrarium though, and 40 W is more than you need for a 10 gal tank. I'd keep looking, or ask the seller if they have 6500-6700K bulbs that can go in that fixture.

  
 

 

 


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