What kind of bulbs...

[shollia]

What kind of bulbs should I put into my 10 gallon that will house 2 bettas.
The ones I have in it now are just... bleh. They're letting off ALOT of heat to the point of making the glass that seperates the lighting from the water VERY hot. The whole tank package said to use 2 25watt bulbs but I'm thinking now that might be too much since the heat it's been giving off. I also really don't like the yellow color of the light... so a white light would be prefered.
I'm also planning on putting in some live plants such as marble queen radican and maybe some more (of some kind) if there is room... I have no idea what sort of lighting would be good for plant growth and such.. so any help would be appreciated.
Also would be helpful to recommend not so expensive bulbs heh

 

[Isabella]

It's good that you've asked these questions. Your tank has definitely too much lighting! 2 x 25 is 50 watts of light! That's too extreme for a 10 gallon tank. 50W gives you 5 watts of light per 1 gallon of water! Not even people with densely planted tanks (with CO2 injections) use that much lighting, lol. The package was definitely wrong.

I am guessing you will have regular gravel. If so, get low-light plants only, for example: Anubias, Java Moss, Java Fern, and perhaps Water Sprite or something of the sort (as long as it is low light). If you get medium to high light plants, you'll need to use nutrient-rich gravel and good lighting, and possibly CO2 injections. I think it will be better for you to get normal light, and low light plants. Your Bettas will like it this way

If you want a light that looks very natural and is white (rather than reddish or blue or purple), get a bulb with a spectrum between 6,700K and 10,000K (but not above 10,000K). I'd personally recommend the 6,700K bulb - I have these and I love them. They give a very natural look to my tanks. Also, the plants LOVE the 6,700K spectrum.

How long is your tank? Do you have a light fixture over it? If so, how long is the bulb that goes inside the fixture? For low light plants, you can have from 1.0 to 1.5 wpg (watts per gallon) of lighting. You probably can go below 1.0 with Java Fern, Java Moss, and Anubias ... but at least 1.0 would be much better. A 15W bulb that has a spectrum of 6,700K would be great for a 10 gallon tank with low light plants.

This is a 15W, 6,700K bulb:


I have this one (only larger one) over my 30 gallon tank and I love this light. Before you buy it, you need to know if it will fit your fixture. If it won't, you may have to get a new fixture (the light strip).

P.S. I am not sure if you can keep 2 Bettas in one tank. Please ask about this on the Betta Board.

 

[shollia]

It's a divided tank heh.... Don't worry.. I'd never stick 2 bettas together! lol

;D

Thanks so much for all of the info btw! If I can convince bf to start getting plants online then I'll be getting some java ferns to put into the tank.

The tank is 20 inches long.. just a regular rectangle 10 gal.
Here's a pic of the lighting thing that came with the tank...

 

[atmmachine816]

It's all true what Isabella said except the lighting, some people use well over 40w of lights just on a 10 gallon though they have a special dosing scedule every day with co2 and also expierence algae.

The type of lights you would like are 10w cp fluerscent lights. You can buy them online, at wal-mart in the fish section or at your lfs. The type they sell at wal-mart in the fish section cost about 5$ each and give a nice look, it's what I'm usuing now. I can take a picture of the box they came in if you'd like.

You can keep two bettas, lots of people do it now.

Check your lfs for some fast growing plants because if you put both of these lights on at once, you'l have algae if you don't have plants, if you don't have plants only use one.

 

[shollia]

Yeah we just got back from Walmart and I got 2 of those 10w bulbs that were in the pet section.


OOO YAY... just screwed them in and it looks GREAT! Has that white lighting like I wanted ;D

Thanks a bunch for all of the help given! Much appreciated!!

 

[atmmachine816]

You will want to keep an eye out for algae with no plants in there to compete. You may only want to use one.

 

[shollia]

I will It's sitting right on my desk so I can watch it very easily I'm hoping to get some plants this weekend from the fish place here. Just hope they have more selection this time.

 

[atmmachine816]

If you see it, pick up some hornwort, it grows like mad and is a good algae fighter

 

[Isabella]

Atm, 40W of light over a 10 gallon tank is fine IF you have a nutrient-rich substrate, and CO2 injections. Otherwise, it will most likely cause algal blooms - from what I have learned on Plant Geek.

Shollia, if you have 20W over your tank now, I suppose that's OK (it gives you 2 wpg of lighting). But already at 2 wpg a lot of people use CO2 injections and definitely nutrient-rich substrate or otherwise good fertilization. I mean, maybe you won't get algae - I wish you all the best. But please don't be disappointed or surprised if you do happen to get algae. (Unless you have CO2 diffuser and good substrate and/or fertilizers). Also, it depends on what plants you'll have.

 

[atmmachine816]

Yup that's what I meant Isabella

Well I guess that the wpg rule is sorta thrown away on lower tanks so like you said she may or may not get algae with 20w, though until she gets plants it will be easy to clean.