Lighting for 10g

heavensabvus1

Junior Poster
Apr 7, 2005
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I currently have 35watts of regular flourescent light over my 10g....shrimp only tank...and the plants are doing very well. I have pressurized Co2 and use the EI.

I want to replace my two strip lights which are a pain, with one compact flourescent fixture, but they're not too easy to find in the 20" length. I've managed to find two. In both cases, I would have to switch out the original bulb.

Choices:
1) Coralife Aqualight - 28w - 6700 bulb
2) Current USA Satellitte - 40w - dual bulb, 1/2 6700k, 1/2 10,000k, with white LED moonlight

I have found a 36w bulb 6500k that would fit choice #2, but am thinking that running a 36w bulb on a 40w ballast might burn it out sooner. True? If it wasn't a problem, I'd just do that to most closely match what I currently have (35w). I wouldn't mind if the tank was a little brighter, as long as the shrimps are fine with it.

Any thoughts would be most appreciated....thanks!
 

CrownMan

Junior Poster
Sep 8, 2005
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Arlington, Texas
Re: Lighting for 10g

Choice Number 1 looks good as is. Why would you want to change out the lights on that one. 6700 is a good temp for plants and 28W of CF is about the same as 35W of NO Flourescents in my opinion.

Where did you find the Coralife 28W 6700 and how much is it. I might need one for one of my 10 gallon heavily planted tanks currently using a 48" 2x 55w over 2 10 gallon tanks and want to replace one of the 10s with a 20H with its on 55w CF.

Good Luck,

Mike
 

colonel

Guru Class Expert
Nov 25, 2005
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Re: Lighting for 10g

Just a thought if your handy at all and already have the "stock" strip light for a 10 gallon laying around... ahsupply.com offers a 2 x 13 watt PC retro fit kit that is pretty easy to install in the standard strip light that fits a 10 gallon, if you get it with out the reflectors I believe its only around 15 bucks, with reflectors which are very good i might add.... only 30 bucks. That is with out bulbs though, but then you have the choice of bulbs, either 6700 k, or 10000 k.
I ordered 2 for two of my tanks and was very pleased. Just something to consider also.
Matt
 

Tom Barr

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Jan 23, 2005
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Re: Lighting for 10g

I have some 18" L tanks and the 40W light is perfect.
So the 19-20" L of a 10 should be perfect.

I think the brand is Current.
They make a 20" model and I use them suspended on a rack I have.
They can use those legs too.

That would be nice. You can DIY a nice box out of 1/4" popular from Home Depot etc and tack a simple box with legs in asimilar fashion and use 2 cheapy 15w lights and add a daylight bulb abnd a Triton bulb for a nice color mix.

So there's a 25-35$ way or a 70$ way.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

heavensabvus1

Junior Poster
Apr 7, 2005
23
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Re: Lighting for 10g

Thanks for you suggestions....

Tom - Yes, one of the 20" fixtures I saw was by Current and it came with a white moonlight, which could be very nice (or I was thinking of putting a blue lighting gel over it and seeing how the blue looks). I was really most concerned about using a dual 40w bulb (1/2 6700, 1/2 10,000k) as it was the only possibly freshwater bulb I could find to fit this fixture. I was able to find other bulbs in 36w but am not sure if they would blow out in a 40w fixture. What do you think? I don't mind forking over $70 for something really nice since it's something I expect to have a long time. If it was for my bigger tank, I would definitely DIY or hit ebay.

Crownman
- choice #1 (Coralife Aqualight) doesn't actually come with that bulb...that was what I would be able to replace it with. Both fixtures are square pin, which for freshwater seems to cut down on bulb choices. I think I either saw it at BigAlsonline.com (great place!) or Dr. Fosters & Smith.

Colonel - I did look at AHS since they have such a stellar reputation but when I added up the fixture and the bulb for a retrofit of my beat up strip light, it came out to the same price as buying a nice, new fixture ready to go, so I decided to just buy!
 

Tom Barr

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Jan 23, 2005
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Re: Lighting for 10g

I took those bulbs out and used a 6700K.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

heavensabvus1

Junior Poster
Apr 7, 2005
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Re: Lighting for 10g

Hi-

The dual bulb (6700k/10,000k) was the only 40w square pin bulb I could find to replace what came with the fixture (actinic). Do you remember where you found a 6700k, 40w, square pin bulb? I could only find 36w in 6700k.

Beverly
 

colonel

Guru Class Expert
Nov 25, 2005
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Re: Lighting for 10g

Good deal heavensabvus1! That is something needed to be taken into consideration after bulbs shipping etc. is it really going to be much less.... For me it was I just got the simple 15 dollar kit to upgrade my lighting a bit for some non - CO2 tanks.
But seeming how you are going towards the Current fixture I will add in that I have one on my 75 gallon. I have had it for about a year and a half now, and I love it... it has worked great and has been a quality fixture for me, and the moon lights are a nice added bonus, espically if you plecos or anything.... however mine did burn out or the transformer went bad Im not sure..... but other than that I would definantly buy another!
 

heavensabvus1

Junior Poster
Apr 7, 2005
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Re: Lighting for 10g

Hi Colonel-

Does your fixture have a white or blue moonlight? The one I am getting has white, I believe. It should be interesting as this is a shrimp-only tank. If I was refitting my 65g, I would probably go ebay or ahs. I got 220w cf for my 65g from ebay for $85.00. I bought two used fixtures...same fixture, different colors and spray painted them both black. Some very good deals to be had there!
 

Tom Barr

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Jan 23, 2005
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Re: Lighting for 10g

A 40w 10k/6700K is fine.
You can use the 36 w bulbs also if they are the same length.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

heavensabvus1

Junior Poster
Apr 7, 2005
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Re: Lighting for 10g

Great...I've ordered it and am looking forward to setting it up....Big Al's had a good price, on top of which they price-matched a couple of items for me, so it was very reasonable. They also have free shipping right now, just in case anyone else needs to get some shopping done.
 

colonel

Guru Class Expert
Nov 25, 2005
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Re: Lighting for 10g

Mine had/has white moon lights.... they just arnt working any more. I should really look into it because I enjoyed them very much, they make a neat effect at night and like you mentioned its a plus to be able to watch the shrimp, or plecos or whatever neat fish you have that only come out at night.
Im thinking it was probably the power supply that went bad because I believe LED's have an extremely long life span. I'll have to look into that, Im sure it would be easy enough to wire a new one in. have fun and enjoy your new light!