10gal. or smaller planted tank?
 

Hang on, I'm interested, tell me more about that point: why do small
tanks need more watt/gallon? Because crowded plants shade each other more?


No. I'm not sure exactly why this is the case. It's something that has become
evident empirically: the watts per gallon rule breaks down with very small or
very large tanks.

It probably is partly due to flaws in the rule of the thumb, as well as the
nature of flourescent lights.

The longer a flourescent bulb is, the more efficient it is. So a 4' bulb
throws out more light per watt than a shorter bulb does.

And the rule of thumb -- watts per gallon -- doesn't take into account the fact
that height is the most important dimension. As tanks get bigger, they don't
get much higher. Once you're over 100 gallons, the tanks only get longer, not
higher.

See this article for more info:

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/Lighting/

Basically, it found that for tanks under five gallons, 8 watts per gallon may
not be enough, while for tanks over 100 gallons, 2 watts per gallon is too
much.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

10gal. or smaller planted tank?
 

Leigh wrote:

"No. I'm not sure exactly why this is the case. It's something that
has become evident empirically: the watts per gallon rule breaks down
with very small or very large tanks. "

While I don't have sound scientific proof.... I don't think that is
not necessarily true. I have maintained many high light tanks in the
past and have switched over to lower light tanks. I pretty much
lowered my wattage by a 1/3 to 1/2 on all my tanks. I was at almost 4
watts per on all of my tanks.... then my bulbs started going out one
at a time and I just let them be. I found that once the plants
reacclimated to to lower light situation that they grew just fine....
and I had much less maintenance, had to add fewer nutrients and my
electric bill dropped dramatically!

Regards,

Ed @
i-aquaria dot com



On 11 May 2003 19:07:49 GMT, tose (LeighMo) wrote:

No. I'm not sure exactly why this is the case. It's something that has become
evident empirically: the watts per gallon rule breaks down with very small or
very large tanks.

10gal. or smaller planted tank?
 

was at almost 4
watts per on all of my tanks.... then my bulbs started going out one
at a time and I just let them be. I found that once the plants
reacclimated to to lower light situation that they grew just fine....

I'm not saying that you can't have low-light planted tanks. I'm just saying
that if you do want a high-light, high-tech tank, you'll need more watts per
gallon in a small tank (under 5 gallons) than in a large one.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

10gal. or smaller planted tank?
 

Leigh,

I just don't find that to be the case.

I have an 18watt fixture over a ten gallon and I can grow pretty
anything I want to in there. At least everything I've put in there
has thrived.

I read before about this small tank high light phenomenon I tried it
but found that it wasn't necessary.

Regards,

Ed at
i-aquaria.com


On 13 May 2003 21:43:45 GMT, tose (LeighMo) wrote:

was at almost 4
watts per on all of my tanks.... then my bulbs started going out one
at a time and I just let them be. I found that once the plants
reacclimated to to lower light situation that they grew just fine....

I'm not saying that you can't have low-light planted tanks. I'm just saying
that if you do want a high-light, high-tech tank, you'll need more watts per
gallon in a small tank (under 5 gallons) than in a large one.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

10gal. or smaller planted tank?
 

Sorry Leigh I missed your point there....

You said:
"I'm just saying that if you do want a high-light, high-tech tank, you'll need more watts per
gallon in a small tank (under 5 gallons) than in a large one."

I can't argue with that. I guess it is true. I just found through
tiral and error that there is no way that I need a "high light" "high
tech" tank under 10 gals. At least not with my Los Angeles tap
water...plus I would think that you wouldn't want things to grow too
fast in a small setup. That would be a royal PITA.

In fact I've had more nutrient and CO2 and lighting problems in my
larger tanks. I think larger tanks are more forgiving.... but they are
also more demanding.

Regards,

Ed




On 13 May 2003 21:43:45 GMT, tose (LeighMo) wrote:

was at almost 4
watts per on all of my tanks.... then my bulbs started going out one
at a time and I just let them be. I found that once the plants
reacclimated to to lower light situation that they grew just fine....

I'm not saying that you can't have low-light planted tanks. I'm just saying
that if you do want a high-light, high-tech tank, you'll need more watts per
gallon in a small tank (under 5 gallons) than in a large one.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Your choices will be actual bound with such a baby tank. Amano uses rasboras and neon tetras in his aboriginal tanks. Amano shrimp and otocinclus for algae control. But I'd be absolutely afraid to accumulate angle in such a baby tank.

Dwarf pufferfish will best suite a 10gal tank. They are cute, curious and very intelligent. The main advantage of dwarf pufferfish is they are small in size and will not grow. Sword plants, fern, cherry barbs etc will also help to increase the beauty of a 10gal tank.