# Lighting Requirements for A Planted Nano Tank?



## Scienceluvr8 (May 17, 2009)

Hey guys!

Well...I've been browsing other forums and looking at some pretty good planted nano tanks, and it's really enticed me to convert my current 2.5 gallon.

Anyways, I would like to know if anyone has a planted tank of this size, or at least similar, and what type of lighting do you use/recommend for low tech plants?? Thanks.


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

The WPG rule kind of breaks down in tanks under 10g so you need a lot of wattage to grow even low-light plants. If you are just screwing a CFL onto a current fixture that would probably set you at low light. Installing an Coralife Aqualight Mini (18w) would give you medium and purchasing a Hamptom Bay Desk lamp to use (27w) would give you high light.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

kelly... whats a CFL? and where do you get it.. how much etc etc.

I would like to eventually plant my 3 gal tank. I believe my eclipse 3 has a bulb of 15w. I'm only putting a bit of java moss and a java fern or two in the tank if at all so I only need a low- med light set up.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

A good person to ask about plants and lighting would be Byron. He knows everything about plants and lighting.


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

A CFL is compact fluorescent light. 

Eclipses come with an awesome light. You should be able to swing some low to low-medium light plants no problem. Just don't forget to supplement with a good micro-fert like Flourish Comprehensive and ensure that the gravel has some sort of nutrient source like flourish tabs if you are not going with a planted tank substrate like Eco-Complete or Flourite.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Thanks Kelly.. I'll def make sure to get the ferts when I plant it. It won't be for a while bc I'm planning on taking sections from my 10 gal and transferring them.. so I need to plant the 10 gal first LOL


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## Scienceluvr8 (May 17, 2009)

okay, thankyou kelly for all the good info. So, if I were to get a 10 or 15 watt flourescent light would that do the trick for low tech plants?


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

Also note, many tanks can only take up to a certain wattage. For example, my Eclipse Corner 5 says it takes only up to a 11 watt CFL bulb. So, usually in your tank instructions it will say.

You can get the daylight CFL bulb at Target, Lowes, etc.


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## Scienceluvr8 (May 17, 2009)

ok, I checked the maximum wattage on my tank and its 15. How much do thoes cfl's usually go for?


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

Did it say that was CFL? Because I take a higher wattage of incandescent light than CFL lights. My CFL bulb was like $1-$2.


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## Scienceluvr8 (May 17, 2009)

Oh, that's true. I have a 15 watt incandescent right now(that's what the kit came with), so do you think it would also hold that amount in flourescent? I would think so because incadescents give off heat, and I think that's a restriction so the hood won't melt or something like that, but I'm thinking it should also tolerate that wattage in flourescent lighting....


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

Okay mine came with a 15 watt incandescent bulb and the max CFL bulb it takes is the 11 watt. I found that it is cheaper to buy the CFL bulb at Target or Lowes. However, for my tank Petsmart does sell the CFL bulb. It is like $15 there though. So I buy the "mini" bulbs lol.


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## Scienceluvr8 (May 17, 2009)

ok, lol. I'll search around at some of the hardware stores here, and walmart and such and see what I can find. I think I saw that walmart had a 10 watt flourescent, but I'm still wondering if that's going to be enough....


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

Make sure it is daylight spectrum if you have live plants.


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