Doo Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Hi All I would like to introduce myself, although I have already hopped into a couple of chats here and there. I have been at FW for many years (Africans, mostly Tangan…) and I have now decided to try SW!!! I have been reading tons of our forum and other sites and you guys are all great – I am very glad I joined and look forward to learning from you all. I have large tanks that I can go hard on, but I have decided to start with a little 10g just to get the feel and I see many members here are successful with them… I managed to pick up a 10g kit and was given enough water from an established tank to fill it up. I also picked up from the same person some LR, LS, a container full of noodles (bio media) that are all live & a hand full of stringy plants that he said would be good to get going… I think the start part is good to go – I bought a ¾” fish that my wife insisted on “FINDING…” (I will not even make you guess) – I am not sure how well the fish will do, but time will tell… THE LIGHTING DILEMMA!!! This 10g kit I bought either comes with a florescent fixture tube or a 2 bulb fixture ($10 diff). I bought the one with the 2 bulb setup because I was told I can use 2 incandescent lights, which would give me better lighting than the 1 florescent… I would like to add some coral once I am confident that all is running well… Today I went and I talked to another knowledgeable source and he said NO WAY, neither will work and I should just stick with fish for now under the florescent tube until I get a bigger tank and can justify spending the $$ on good lighting. So – if I buy the florescent kit it’s 10 more (NO big deal!!) If I buy the regular light canopy and purchase 2 incandescent lights – that will be about $50.00 and I am totally ok with that unless it will not keep coral alive and in which case there is no point, I might as well put that towards real lights… Can anyone please help me on which way I should go!!! Thank you!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbert Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 I've never done SW so I don't know what corals need, but with the incandescent hood, you can use compact fluorescent bulbs instead of the incandescent ones, and get a fair amount of light in there. I have a heavily planted FW 10g with two 15W CF bulbs, and it's doing great. I'm pretty sure there are more powerful CF bulbs available as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doo Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Thank you for the reply - that is what was recommended and it makes sense, but again - I am soooo new to SW - that I thought I would ask the SW experts Thank you! I've never done SW so I don't know what corals need, but with the incandescent hood, you can use compact fluorescent bulbs instead of the incandescent ones, and get a fair amount of light in there. I have a heavily planted FW 10g with two 15W CF bulbs, and it's doing great. I'm pretty sure there are more powerful CF bulbs available as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILIKECOUGARS Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Thank you for the reply - that is what was recommended and it makes sense, but again - I am soooo new to SW - that I thought I would ask the SW experts Thank you! I've never done SW so I don't know what corals need, but with the incandescent hood, you can use compact fluorescent bulbs instead of the incandescent ones, and get a fair amount of light in there. I have a heavily planted FW 10g with two 15W CF bulbs, and it's doing great. I'm pretty sure there are more powerful CF bulbs available as well. Big Al's has a 10 gal. set up with two 20 watt 50/50 CF bulbs which has a couple clown fish and soft coral in it, which seem to be be doing well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Yeah, you can get 2 small screw-in PC bulbs that have 10,000K and actinic - I think they're around 13W ea. Or, you can get a small T5 actinic fixture, and put in 2 23W flourescent bulbs into the current fixture. If you're a little handy, I've even seen 40@ screw-in bulbs - they're too big to fit under the hood of a typical 10gal tank, but you could build a canopy that'd house them... then you could grow ANYTHING!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doo Posted March 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Hi Thank you all for your help I will give the suggestions a try and I am sure it should work Yeah, you can get 2 small screw-in PC bulbs that have 10,000K and actinic - I think they're around 13W ea. Or, you can get a small T5 actinic fixture, and put in 2 23W flourescent bulbs into the current fixture. If you're a little handy, I've even seen 40@ screw-in bulbs - they're too big to fit under the hood of a typical 10gal tank, but you could build a canopy that'd house them... then you could grow ANYTHING!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doo Posted March 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 If I was to upgrade my fixture - what do you all recommend? (Type/ Brand) Where should I go for a good price on a unit that will work for my little 10g - 20" should work... Any thoughts? Thanks again! HiThank you all for your help I will give the suggestions a try and I am sure it should work Yeah, you can get 2 small screw-in PC bulbs that have 10,000K and actinic - I think they're around 13W ea. Or, you can get a small T5 actinic fixture, and put in 2 23W flourescent bulbs into the current fixture. If you're a little handy, I've even seen 40@ screw-in bulbs - they're too big to fit under the hood of a typical 10gal tank, but you could build a canopy that'd house them... then you could grow ANYTHING!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 For the price, Aquagiant seems to be the place to go. Most of their products are not CSA approved, but if that doesn't bother you, it might be a good place to go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosshog Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 Stick a nice 70 watt HQI metal halide over it. Then you should be able to grow anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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