russ757

I have a 10 gallon tank and i really want a planted aquarium, but i only have 1.7 WPG. My anacharis has all died and i think it was because of the light. I have a bulb that says "natural daylight F15T8 18" what does that mean? I would like to have 3+ wpg. Which type of light should i get?

Thanks,
Russ

sirdarksol

1.7 wpg is plenty of light for many types of plants, especially in a 10g tank, which isn't all that deep. I have actually never had luck with anacharis, despite people claiming that it is iron-clad as far as hardiness goes. It could just be that the anacharis doesn't like your water.

With that wattage, you could grow some amazing water wisteria. You could grow crypts, but they'd likely take over the tank, top to bottom, in a year or so. Many of the low-light plants would be ecstatic to have lighting like that. My java moss is going absolutely nuts in my 10g with about the same lighting.

"F15" refers to wattage, I believe. So it's a 15 watt bulb.
"T8" refers to width of the bulb, in eighths of an inch. In other words, it's a one-inch bulb.
"18" probably refers to length, in inches.

If you want to upgrade your lighting, you've got some options.
You can order a pre-built setup. This will not be cheap.
You can get non-aquarium lights from your local hardware store. You need to have a glass top on your aquarium to protect these lights from splashes. They're a bit less expensive than lights made for aquaria, but it will still be pretty expensive to get 30 watts of lights for a 10g tank.
You can build yourself a setup. I've seen everything from home-made setups using daisy-chained plug-in light sockets to entirely hand-built hoods with custom fluorescent fixtures and everything in between. The simplest of these only require basic hardware skills (drills, screws, that sort of thing). The more advanced require wiring. Please check with your parents prior to doing any sort of electrical wiring.
Also, remember that wattage is not the best indicator of brightness. I believe that the WPG is based on T12 bulbs. Incandescent bulbs are a lot less efficient, so 30 watts of incandescent light is nowhere near as bright as 30 watts of T12 fluorescent. T8s are a bit more efficient than T12s, and so 30 watts of T8 is actually a little brighter than 30 watts of T12. T5s are more efficient than T8s, and Metal Halide are more efficient than T5s.

russ757

Thanks SDS. I guess i only have 1.5 wpg since it is only 15w light (hood said 17). Im glad to hear that i am not the only one who has had trouble with anacharis. I have had trouble finding mosses and wisteria since me LFS is petsmart they mostly sell non- aquatic plants submerged in h2o. I guess i need to hunt for a new "LFS" lolz.

I think i will upgrade to a 20w if i can find one.

Thank you SDS