Best light for 10 gallon planted tank?

[newmag1659]

Hi!

I'm starting up my second tank, a 10 gallon, and the lights that come with it are terrible. I have some low light hornwort and amazon swords, but I'm going to be adding some medium-light plants in next week.

I'm a college student, so I don't want to spend a ton, I'm gonna say no more than $40 USD.

So far, I've been suggested the:

NICREW ClassicLED Aquarium Light

Beamworks Beamswork DA 6500K 0.50W Series LED Pent Aquarium

Finnex fugeray clip on



Substrate is fluval stratum and I'm not growing anything with high light demands. I also fertilize with liquid weekly and root tabs as needed. Currently no fish added but there will be once fully cycled.



What do you suggest for a heavily planted tank (but not high light demand plants)? Please only suggest lights you've used and been successful with! Thanks

In addition, I'm wanting to add a combo of platys and mollies. How many should I get of each? I was thinking 2 mollies and 3 platys.

 

[Essjay]

In addition, I'm wanting to add a combo of platys and mollies. How many should I get of each? I was thinking 2 mollies and 3 platys.

In a 10 gallon tank, none. Both species need a bigger tank.

If you have hard water, endlers would be OK. But if the water is soft, no livebearers.



I'll leave the light question to those who know what lights are available in the USA.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

NICREW ClassicLED Aquarium Light

I've seen these before, they are pretty good. I don't recognize the other two.

 

[newmag1659]

In a 10 gallon tank, none. Both species need a bigger tank.

If you have hard water, endlers would be OK. But if the water is soft, no livebearers.



I'll leave the light question to those who know what lights are available in the USA.

I couldn't do like 3-4 platys if they're all male or all female? If they aren't reproducing I've been told they would be alright.

 

[Essjay]

If you were told they'd be OK by a fish store, don't believe them. Fish store workers have a terrible reputation for giving bad advice.

Seriously Fish is just about the most accurate website

Platies:

Xiphophorus maculatus – Platy — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

The smallest of the common mollies

Poecilia sphenops – Short-finned Molly/Black Molly — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Both of these fish are hard water fish, and if your water is soft, they would also suffer. Before deciding on any fish species, the first step is to find out how hard your water is. The simplest way is to look on your water provider's website. If they give it, you need a number and the unit of measurement as words can be misleading.

 

[newmag1659]

If you were told they'd be OK by a fish store, don't believe them. Fish store workers have a terrible reputation for giving bad advice.

Seriously Fish is just about the most accurate website

Platies:

Xiphophorus maculatus – Platy — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

The smallest of the common mollies

Poecilia sphenops – Short-finned Molly/Black Molly — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Both of these fish are hard water fish, and if your water is soft, they would also suffer. Before deciding on any fish species, the first step is to find out how hard your water is. The simplest way is to look on your water provider's website. If they give it, you need a number and the unit of measurement as words can be misleading.

I was told that I could keep 4 male platys in a 10 gallon - water is neither hard nor soft, kinda in the middle. If they get 2 inches, which is typical for platy males, would that not follow the inch-per-gallon (general) rule?

If platys really won't work in my tank, I won't get them, I would just really like them.

edit: not by the petstore, by folks on reddit like r/aquariums and r/plantedtanks

 

[Essjay]

Always do your own research - and Seriously Fish really is the best place. Anyone can write a website whether they know their subject or not, but SF is written by experts.

The one inch per gallon rule is very much out of date. Othee things need to be taken into account - swimming behaviour, water requirements etc. The common livebearers need hard water with mollies needing hardest of all. Do you have a number for your hardness? Words can be misleading, for example, my hardness is 5 dH which is soft as far as fish are concerned but my water company says it is slightly hard.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I agree. Never take advice from fish store owners, or big retail stores.

 

[newmag1659]

Ok - if platys aren’t a good idea, what about guppies? I just want a colorful, flashier fish but I already have a betta.

 

[Byron]

Ok - if platys aren’t a good idea, what about guppies? I just want a colorful, flashier fish but I already have a betta.

We need to know your source water parameters, as essjay explained. Check with your municipal water authority (for the area where the tank will be, if different fro your home), they may have water data posted on their website or they should be able to tell you. We/you need the GH and pH primarily.

GH is the level of dissolved calcium and magnesium in water, and this is crucial to fish. Hard water species must have sufficient minerals in the water to be able to extract them to function properly, while soft water fish are the opposite and having these minerals can weaken them to the point of early death.

Essjay's comments on false information being so widespread are accurate. This is one of the worst problems in this hobby, sites run by people who have very little or usually zero knowledge of fish physiology giving advice.

 

[newmag1659]

Gotcha. I am currently in East TX but I’m moving to Central TX in the beginning of August, so I’ll include the parameters for both. The most recent reports are from 2018.

East TX:
Hardness: 48.9 ppm
I was unable to find pH listed, but I test my 5 gallon every other day and it’s around 6.4-6.6 without any treatment. I usually add pH up solution to keep at at 7.
As for gH, it’s not listed but here is the city report if you wanna look at other numbers:

https://www.cityoftyler.org/home/showdocument?id=1568

Central TX:
pH here is extremely high, it’s a city-wide issue. Around 8.5. Hardness is very low, around 10 ppm. I don’t even drink tap it’s terrible.
Couldn’t find gH but here’s a link for this one as well.

https://www.cstx.gov/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=15868700

I am going to be in Central TX the vast majority of the time (90% give or take, as I’m a college student).
I appreciate the help!

 

[Byron]

Gotcha. I am currently in East TX but I’m moving to Central TX in the beginning of August, so I’ll include the parameters for both. The most recent reports are from 2018.

East TX:
Hardness: 48.9 ppm
I was unable to find pH listed, but I test my 5 gallon every other day and it’s around 6.4-6.6 without any treatment. I usually add pH up solution to keep at at 7.
As for gH, it’s not listed but here is the city report if you wanna look at other numbers:

https://www.cityoftyler.org/home/showdocument?id=1568

Central TX:
pH here is extremely high, it’s a city-wide issue. Around 8.5. Hardness is very low, around 10 ppm. I don’t even drink tap it’s terrible.
Couldn’t find gH but here’s a link for this one as well.

https://www.cstx.gov/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=15868700

I am going to be in Central TX the vast majority of the time (90% give or take, as I’m a college student).
I appreciate the help!

OK, the primary parameter here is the GH, and both areas are soft, actually very soft. So forget any livebearers they will not be health or live long in water this soft. But that opens up many more options, as there are far more soft water fish species. The pH where you are now is no problem. The higher pH is likely due to the addition of something by the water authority. This is comon in soft water areas because an acidic pH corrodes pipes and equipment. The effect can be temporary, depending what they add. Point being that in an aquarium it may lower which is fine.

A 10g is rally only suited to either nano fish or a solitary male Betta. Nano fish, being fish that are under an inch at maturity, are usually shoaling species so a group of 8-12 depending. The dwarf rasboras in the genus Boraras, the Ember Tetra, pygmy cory, some of the pencilfish, killifish...this is only a start.

 

[newmag1659]

OK, the primary parameter here is the GH, and both areas are soft, actually very soft. So forget any livebearers they will not be health or live long in water this soft. But that opens up many more options, as there are far more soft water fish species. The pH where you are now is no problem. The higher pH is likely due to the addition of something by the water authority. This is comon in soft water areas because an acidic pH corrodes pipes and equipment. The effect can be temporary, depending what they add. Point being that in an aquarium it may lower which is fine.

A 10g is rally only suited to either nano fish or a solitary male Betta. Nano fish, being fish that are under an inch at maturity, are usually shoaling species so a group of 8-12 depending. The dwarf rasboras in the genus Boraras, the Ember Tetra, pygmy cory, some of the pencilfish, killifish...this is only a start.

Gotcha.. a real shame since I really love the look of the platys, but I wanna do best by the fish. I already have a betta in a 5 gallon, so I could do another, but I think I wanna try something different.
I really love the look of killifish - they're bright and beautiful like the platys I wanted.
Could I do a combination, like 4-6 killifish and 3 corys? I've had corys in the past and they're so cute and fun, but only really stay at the bottom of the tank, so I would want to do them in combo with another fish.

 

[Byron]

Gotcha.. a real shame since I really love the look of the platys, but I wanna do best by the fish. I already have a betta in a 5 gallon, so I could do another, but I think I wanna try something different.
I really love the look of killifish - they're bright and beautiful like the platys I wanted.
Could I do a combination, like 4-6 killifish and 3 corys? I've had corys in the past and they're so cute and fun, but only really stay at the bottom of the tank, so I would want to do them in combo with another fish.

Cories are shoaling fish and need a group, and the pygmy and dwarf species need 9-10 minimum. That's OK here, I had a group of 9 in my 10g for several years, they spawned and I had 30 at one point. They were on their own, so nothing ate the eggs and I let nature do what it wants so several survived naturally.

Killifish would depend upon the species. Some are peaceful, some less so. Other members with more direct experience with these beautiful fish can offer more.

Yoou asked about the light initially, and I was going to ask what you have now? Sometimes all you need is replacement of the bulb or tube; some LED if that is what yiou have can havee different diodes better suited to plants exchanged. May be cheaper than a new light unit.

 

[newmag1659]

Cories are shoaling fish and need a group, and the pygmy and dwarf species need 9-10 minimum. That's OK here, I had a group of 9 in my 10g for several years, they spawned and I had 30 at one point. They were on their own, so nothing ate the eggs and I let nature do what it wants so several survived naturally.

Killifish would depend upon the species. Some are peaceful, some less so. Other members with more direct experience with these beautiful fish can offer more.

Ok! What other colorful options do I have besides Killifish? I was just doing some looking around and it seems they live a very short time.