Reddit reviews Boston Harbor TL-WK-134E-BK-3L Swing Arm Adjustable Desk Lamp, 60 W, A19, Black

Many people in this sub will probably scoff at this, but that is just a random soft white CFL from my cupboard! I had planned to replace it with a more suitable light after some proper research, but I couldn't help but notice that the plants really took off right away. I'm not at home now or I'd post a pic, but the plants are doing just fine under that light. I'm definitely overdue to trim them up as it is currently a jungle in there (but the baby shrimp love it!)



The desk lamp, which I love, is from Amazon. And I also picked up a timer which is set to come on for about 7 hours a day with a 2 hour siesta mid-day.


I didn't go with a dry start method. I stuck with the shrimp bowl directions on the first three pages of that document. The dry start method is fantastic for carpeting plants, but I don't really have any of those in my jar. I honestly half expected my first foray into the Walstad method would be a failure so I didn't want to invest too much into it, but everything is going fantastic. I am blown away at how easy it has been. I initially had some melt on the crypts and the sword, but they recovered and started new growth in about a week!

This is true. Worst case, its not very bright and you mount it close to your bed, perhaps take the actual lamp off of this so you can swing it closer to your head from a nightstand.

You could wear gloves.

There was a LPT here recently where someone got a desk lamp, the kind that you can move around the actual light part, like this, and put an incandescent lightbulb in it and shine it on their hands to keep it warm. I would go with a heat lamp bulb, though, less brightness.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZKDUVE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A couple of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZKDUVE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

With these inside: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JM72W6C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have two windows in my bedroom but they're both surrounded by trees, so there isn't much natural light.

Artwork would definitely help a lot. Any suggestions where I should look?

I actually planned on buying a better desk lamp. I was thinking about this one - Do you think it's alright?

Also, can you (or anyone else) recommend a decent fps gaming mouse that isn't too expensive? If I were to get one, I would want it to match my keyboard, however I don't really like the idea of spending $50 or more on a mouse.. Unless of course there is notable difference between that and an everyday ordinary mouse.

cool thanks for the response! this is much cheaper than a 60$ aquarium specific light!
Should I be worried about leaving something like this on for 8 hours of light a day or would it just get too hot and die or something

 If its your first tank, start out with easy-to-grow plants and you wont need CO2 or expensive lights. <br />
 I got a GE 50 watt equivalent daylight 6500k r20 flourescent light specifically and put it into the old style lamp that uses bulbs and is tall and has an adgustable arm like [so](http://www.amazon.com/Boston-Harbor-Architect-Swing-26-Inches/dp/B002ZKDUVE) but older and could probably be found at the thrift store for cheap.  <br />

For the substrate I got a bag of miracle grow pro choice organic. You have to get all of the floating wood and bits first. I used a bunch of buckets and time. I poured a bunch into the bucket and then filled it with water, and then waited a day and skimmed off the wood and anything that was floating. You could use the wood and the other byprodeucts as extra nutrient mulch and water if you want. I then carefully skimmed off the water once clear each day untill I was close to the bottom. When it was too shallow to skim water I carefully laid plastic wrap down, weighted that with some little rocks, let it sit for a day, and then poured off as much water as I could. Then I mixed a little nutrient rich dirt from my house and little sand to start off the bacteria and make the dirt a little thicker. By now it wasn't very watery but too watery to use. I let it sit in the sun in my aquarium until enough water had evaporated. Then I put the plants a little bit into the dirt and put a sand cap on. Note: I am not sure if I did it the most optimal way and made it more complicated or not since I didn't have anything to sift the dirt with. The sand I used was some quartzy kinda rocky sand from a small creek beside my house that I rinsed very thoroughly since it looked natural and was free. I have heard that you can also use black diamond blasting sand once rinsed very thoroughly as well for a black sand and pool sand if you want a cheap white sand that will get dirty quickly and look bad in my opinion.

For plants look for low-medium light and high-medium hardy plants like wisteria, java fern or moss, water sprite (close to but not wisteria), Bacopa monnieri, duckweed, Sagittaria subulata, Echinodorus tenellus, Rotala rotundifolia, Riccia fluitans, tripartita japonica, also check out tropica for other plants, pictures, info, and they have a pretty good rating system.

As for the cycle it would be best to do it with plants since they will soak up the ammonia and grow in the water instead of algae. I added water to about half of what I eventually wanted because I would have to dump it out later anyways. I changed it about maybe 1/3-1/2 one day after and then waited a few days. I still havn't added a filter since I don't have animals yet and snails plus water movement from a siphon have cleared up algae I have had so far. Also the Diana Walstad pdf is very good for another step by step guide for what you need. Edit: I have no idea why this post looks weird

Desklamp with a 6500k CFL?
Bulb
Lamp

I got a desk lamp and put a daylight bulb in it. This is the one I got, but you could probably find a similar one at a local store. I like it because it's very easy to redirect the light, I have it pointed above my mirror and a second lamp a few feet away to add some additional lighting.

https://www.amazon.com/Boston-Harbor-Architect-Swing-26-Inches/dp/B002ZKDUVE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1499554361&sr=8-6&keywords=black+desk+lamp+architect

I recommend making sure you have several items:

• Hamper (foldable or collapsible is best for college students.)
  
• Laundry bag (Just in case you don't want to carry your hamper to your laundry facility, or your hamper isn't carry friendly.)
  
• Desk lamp (any kind should be fine, so that way if your room mate is sleeping you don't have to have the entire room lit up)
  
• Power strips (you never know when you're going to need to plug something in, and you might run out of wall plugs)
  
• Change jar (spare change is always useful especially when ordering food, so you can give exact change. Don't forget to tip! You can make one of these yourself for basically free minus the cost of a bottle)
  
• Desk organizer (To keep your class syllabi in, as well as any returned papers. It's very easy to lose all of that stuff, and you never know if you might need it again during the semester.)
  
• Flip flops/shower shoes (keep them cheap because they're only for the bathroom, chances are that bathroom will be shared by you and several others, and most likely won't be the cleanest place)
  
• Healthy (ish) snack foods (whatever foods appeal to you really, but that's a start for some ideas, trust me healthy food is good, you don't want that freshman 15 to catch up to you too quick now!)
  
• Alarm clock (or you can use your phone which is what I ended up doing last year, but make sure it doesn't die!)
  
• Headphones (so you don't annoy your roommate with your choice of tv/music/movies/etc.) Here's three more headphones for variety, all of which are great for the price range. Klipsch, Vsonic, Sony(these Sony MDR-V6 go on sale every so often, they were literally just on sale for $54 and are absolutely fantastic for the price range)
  
  That's basically everything I either wish I had brought, or found very useful. Oh yeah, don't forget your cell phone, cell phone charger, laptop/desktop and appropriate cables. Also don't forget to do your laundry somewhat regularly, and that includes your sheets!
  
  Would you like a falafel with that?

Yeah, I used to have the speakers and router attached to the wall on the left, but as you can see I moved them, I'm looking for something to go there. As for light I have ordered one of these. Also it's a little brighter than it looks in the pictures, they were taken with my phone.