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I'm thinking about making my own light for a 10 gallon I have laying around my house. A couple of questions I have are:
How many watts per gallon is too much?
--I'm considering 6 wpg
What is the best type of bulb to use?
With compact fluorescent bulbs that say 14 watts with a 60 watt incandescent comparison which number do I base the wpg on?


What does that mean, Bob? "Till the cows come home." Where have the cows been?

Hi,
Honestly speaking, it is mostly your choice. If you use
the wpg rule, then I would not use much more than 3wpg.
The reason is that 10G tanks are kinda shallow, and by the
time you add 3 or 4 inches of gravel to the tank it is even
more shallow. At that depth, the water column does not
scatter nor absorb the light as much as would happen in a
18 or 24 inch tall tank. So, your 3wpg could be amazingly
bright.

Perhaps the easiest bulb to use is the screw-in compact
fluorescent. Here is a site that explains the "K" rating
and provides links (along the side) to take you to sample
bulbs and their wattages:
http://www.1000bulbs.com/page.php?s=KelvinTempExplained

I would stick with the 6700-8800K bulbs, and I would use
two lower wattage bulbs mounted one to each end of the
housing so that the light was "even" across the tank.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Here's a photo of a light that I put together similar to what you want to do for a 10 gallon tank that I use for my quarantine tank. It puts out 20 watts or 2wpg and is plenty bright. I keep it planted with java moss, java ferns and crypts and there is plenty of light for that, and I imagine it would be enough for some of the highter light plants also.

Jim


Attached Image:

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

With 6wpg of pc light on a 10g you end up basically burning any floating plants or the ends of the leaves on tall plants. Usually I stick with two 20w screw in pc bulbs in a standard 10g hood. I've used 25w bulbs before but again some of the plants near the surface start to turn rather brown and anything that breaks the surface at all turns crispy. Since I've mostly used such a setup for shrimp I'm not entirely sure how much effect it has on fish but I'm guessing if it's too much for high light plants most fish would probably not be thrilled. I'd only use 6wpg if your making a hood that would lift the lights away from the water several inches more than the standard 10g hood and using plants that cover the surface.

Thanks Frank!

I book marked the link you posted. I know this will come in handy down the road and will save me time and money!

Thanks again.

"There is also a Clown Pleco in this tank some where. I am telling you, HE IS IN HERE."