Help With Lighting

[LionessN3cubs]

I'd asked here before but I dont think I ever got a clear answer because I didnt ask my question right.

I bought a 10 gal aquarium kit. It came with a hood with screw in halide bulbs. The bulbs are too hot when they are on and are raising my tank temperature to 86 degrees and above. I want fluorescent bulbs because they are cooler. Does anyone know if I need to buy a hood specifically for fluor. bulbs or do they make fluorescent bulbs that will screw into a halide type socket?

At the LFS I saw something called a fluorescent starter kit I think. It had 2 canister thingies in it but the packaging is unclear as to their purpose. Im THINKING those canisters are meant to be stuck into a screw in socket so I could then place a fluorescent pin bulb in. Is this correct? If that is correct then I also worry that because my water level is so high to keep the filter running that water will get into the......well you get my drift here I think. I need lighting HELP!!!

Please bear with me. I realize that I am posting alot of threads lately and probably getting annoying with my questions. I want to make sure I have everything right before I buy fish. All of these details are enough to make my head spin because Im not sure I understand everything correctly.

Someone said a heater is important so I bought one but I havent used it because of the lighting/heating problem. Im still in the cycling phase so I just removed my hood entirely at the moment although Im not even sure if THAT was the right thing to do because I dont know if the light is needed for the bacteria to grow. I put the heater into the tank but then wasn't sure how far to submerse it...I think I finally understand that I CAN fully submerse the marineland visi-therm heater so Im going to heat the tank now because 85 isn't too hot for the bacteria but 76 (without the hood) is probably too cold for the bacteria. I dont know what to do plain and simple and I really wish I had the money for a very expensive set up instead of this cheap set up that poses so many problems to fix.

 

[ox5477]

first off bud, never feel bad about asking "too many questions." There is no such thing. That is why TFF is here, to help new people to the world of fish keeping.

Second, what are you planning on keeping in your tank? Because unless you are keeping marines (which I would assume not seeing as how your posting in a tropical section) or some special plants that need tons of light, your dont need metal halides for for your tank.

Two factors are effecting things here. The tank is a relativily small tank at 10G (would recommend maybe looking into a 30G, 20G at the min for a beginner) and metal halides are a mand made representation of the surface of the sun (without all the crazy nuclear fusion). Those two, with a small air gap will cause high temps in the tank. You could mitigate this by raising the light off the top of the tank, b ut you really dont need halides to begin with.

Now, the flourescents are good for all tropical fish and a good majority of plants as well. Some you may want to look into T5's or power compact flourescants but unless your doing a heavy planted tank, dont worry about those. It is much easier and much cheaper to just go buy a simple flourescant pendant hood for your tank. They make them in all sizes to fit all tanks and configurations and with something as small as you need, it will cost next to nothing.

Your do need a heater for tropical fish. Hence the name, they need tropical like temperatures (anywhere from 76 to 80F is perfect for most). At these temps, your bacteria should do fine as well. keeping the tank warm while cycling actually should help the bacteria multiply as it will speed up their metabolism and cause them to grow and reproduce quickly. Also, they will be fine without light. They are non-photosynthetic, hence why they can survive fine in a fully enclosed, dark filter

 

[Colin_T]

if you want to keep the halides then raise them at least 12 inches above the tank, preferably more.
if you want to use fluoros then you need to get a different light unit specifically for fluoros. You can buy the end caps and wire up your own light units but unless you know what you are doing, it is safer to buy one premade.
To my knowledge they do not make an adapter that allows fluoros to work in halide sockets.
if you want to use fluors then get a twin fluoro light unit that is the same length as the tank. Have a couple of daylight globes in it and away you go.
the filter bacteria grows best in dark conditions and does not need light.
most heaters can be completely submersed under water.
the filter bacteria are not too fussed about temperature. They grow best at temperatures around 28-30C but will live happily anywhere between 15-32C. The cooler the water the slower they grow.

 

[AshleySpatula]

I just recently bought a 20 inch 40 watt light for my 20g and if your 10 is the same size as my 10 then the 20 inch would fit on there.
I paid about 65-70$ for it with shipping so it was a bit pricey but it is so worth it.

if you get pre- made lighting thought I would suggest an all glass hood as well.

I decided to purchase it after I had been to home depot and lowes trying to figure out how to put it together myself
(I wanted at least 40W lighting) that it would cost just maybe 10$ cheaper and would be rather ugly and 'thrown
together' looking

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the other are right, you don't need halides, and yes they would cause massive problems on such a small tank so basically you can bin them.

the starter kit you saw is what you want, along with a fluro bulb. without seeing the hood of your tank i can't advise how you'd fix it in or anything like that, but that's what you should be looking for. you need to make sure you buy the correct starter unit for the bulb and the correct bulb for the tank, best way to tell is to measure the space the bulb will go into (remember to allow a bit extra for the fixings) and find the tube length which best fits that, then look for the starter unit with the same wattage as the bulb.

put the heater in, fully submerge it, it has a thermostat so if the tank water is heated up by the light, the heater just won't come on, but it'll stop the temp from dropping overnight and when the light isn't on.