Originally Posted by Carissa

I found 10 watt bulbs that are rated at 6500K, "daylight." I'm not sure how well they will work but the tank looks so awesome now because the lighting is a different color.

So with the 2-10 watt bulbs, how many hours a day should I leave them on? I'm not dosing ferts yet, they will probably take a couple of weeks to get here. But I am adding calcium and magnesium to increase kH and gH because my tap water is 0 on both counts.

Also I added some plants now, I have one Vals and two Crypts, besides the java fern and hygro. The man at the shop told me those would be good for a low light tank.

So considering that I want to avoid algae at all costs, how many hours should I start using the lights for as a minimum? And should I increase my lighting once I get the ferts? And, I couldn't find any Excel so this is going to be strictly non-CO2 for now.