All Glass Aquarium AAG25820 Inc Strip Light, 20-Inch

Some aquarium forums suggested using 2, 13 watt compact florescent bulbs in this fixture for a planted 10 gal tank. It functioned nicely with one exception. As the bulbs heated the plastic housing, it emitted a strong plastic smell that was not pleasant. Plants grew nicely in the aquarium but the smell did not diminish over time. I discarded this light and replaced it with an Aqueon single t8 florescent strip light. some of my plants did not survive the lower wattage light so I had to switch to low light plants. In retrospect this light and the plants with higher lighting requirements ended up being a waste of money. I would not recommend this product for use with compact florescent bulbs over a planted aquarium. Please note the fixture is designed to use low watt incandescent bulbs and woks well with them (no smell). Unfortunately you can not grow live plants under the incandescent bulbs.

This product is advertised as a strip light, but it is actually a dual bulb reflector. A strip light houses a single long tube, the kind that spans the entire width of the light and has two pins on each end of the bulb. This product has a fixture in the middle with two screw-in sockets for a light bulb to be screwed in on the left and right side with a metal reflector mounted above the socket fixture. While this may be useful if you're wanting to have two different kinds of light at once, such as a full spectrum plant bulb and a bulb for heat, this is typically not what people looking at strip lights are wanting.

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These striplights to hold the old fashioned bulbs are beginning to fade away and become hard to find, but they're absolutely perfect to use with a pair of five dollar at walmart compact flourescent bulbs from the fish dept. Not only that, the bulbs at Walmart while cheap are an excellent color temperature that I would call "Daylight Plus" it's a pure clean full spectrum white that's a significantly higher color temperature than your average "Daylight" bulb. So, ten bucks for the striplight, ten bucks for the bulbs and I have a light that's wicked awesome for my little planted Tetra tank, and would be equally wicked awesome for a saltwater or even a ten gallon micro-reef tank, those cheap Wal-mart bulbs are that good, and this fixture should be gaining popularity, not loosing, this setup eliminates the ballast and starter that fails in a 20" Flourescent strip-light, it's all in the bulb, and a bulb is only five bucks, not twenty like some stores get for a 20" tube flourescent bulb. I would recommend this to anyone considering this lighting setup. For a small ten gallon reef, I would use two striplights and four bulbs, 40 bucks for a reef lighting system TOTAL, in fact I've been waiting intending to do just that. Highly recommended product

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Great price, great quality and a great fit on the 10 gallon tank I will purchase another if needed Thanks

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I suggest using two 7 watt (40 watt equivalent) CFL daylight bulbs (Lowes, Utilitech, Medium Base Daylight 6500K bulbs, $9.02 each, Item # 7741, Model # LBP7T10) for this fixture. THEY WILL NOT CAUSE ANY PLASTIC SMELL (one reviewer tried 13 watt CFL bulbs and experienced this --I'm going to try it with a 13 watt Micro CFL and will post the results). I've been using the 7 watt CFL setup for over a year on three different aquariums --the original bulbs are still working, and most importantly, the plants are still growing. You need to know your lighting requirements --for a small aquarium (i.e., 10 gallon) this will produce a lot of light and you can grow more types of plants. For larger, deeper aquariums, this setup will work fine with plants requiring low light --i.e., Java Ferns, Java Moss, Anubias, etc.. This is NOT a full hood fixture it makes a nice replacement (or supplement it's small, and will fit in front or behind my fluorescent fixture. You can also do what I did for two bow front aquariums buy hood hinges (plastic strips available on Amazon), make a template leaving room for pumps, heater cords, etc. and have a local glass shop custom cut plate glass (cheap) to cover the aquarium as this fixture CAN'T be used directly over water. Research your plants and their lighting requirements there is no reason to leave a bad review when you buy a product that is inexpensive and does what it is supposed to do. I do blame the company for recommending incandescent bulbs they don't work as well as a good CFL T-10 tube.

EDIT: I've used some 13-watt micro-mini CFL's in two of these fixtures for a couple of days now there hasn't been any plastic smell and they don't get particularly hot. The micro-mini CFL's fit entirely within the metal reflector portion. Purchase the "Instant On" variety.

General rule of thumb: Even low-light plants (.e., Java Ferns) need around 1-2 watts of light per gallon some plants as much as 5 watts per gallon. The color of the bulb (measured in Kelvin, or "K") is important. The 6500K of the 7 watt CFL T-10 tube (40 watt equivalent) gives you a nice spectrum for ~ $9. For deeper aquariums, Sylvania makes a 13 watt (60 watt equivalent) CFL mini-micro, sold in a 2 pack for ~ $7/pair that also has a 6500K spectrum. This is low tech, inexpensive lighting, not something to throw on a reef aquarium, but good for a freshwater hobbyist on a budget that wants to add live, growing (vs. dying) plants to the mix.

AGAIN, YOU HAVE TO USE FIXTURE OVER GLASS THE BOTTOM OF THIS FIXTURE IS EXPOSED. If you need a HOOD for a small aquarium that includes one of these fixtures see : http://www.amazon.com/Perfecto-recess-incandescent-hood-black/dp/B0006G59T0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1358957478&sr=8-2&keywords=10+GALLON+AQUARIUM+HOOD or buy hinges (available on Amazon).

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