How do I get 3 wpg??????

[Jeff-Like-Beer]

I have read a ton about lighting. And the general rule of thumb for a planted aquarium is 3 watts per gallon right? So for my 55 Gallon I should have approx 165 watts. How do I do that when these stinking fluerescent bulbs only go up to 30 watts a piece (all I saw in town anyway) I have looked online and for my size bulbs I can't find anything over 40 inchs. I was going to retro fit regular bulbs into the hood, but while I was just experiments those get way to hot to be 100 percent covered. So can someone point me to where I can find some high powered bulbs! I currently have f15t8 18" bulbs (2 total). Thanks in advance!!!

[Blueiz]

Look for compact fluorescent strips. Check out the Jebo ones on ebay..some decent prices, there strips are nothing fancy, but have served the purpose on my tanks..

Blue

[Jeff-Like-Beer]

I just looked at those on ebay. The smallest size I see is 36 inches. Do they come in 18 inches?

[Blueiz]

are you looking for just the bulbs, or the whole strip? What size strip do you need for your tank?

[Jeff-Like-Beer]

My hoods are able to hold one 18" strip. So I would like to just find a 18" strip that would fit inside of it. All be it ones that are stronger than my current ones (15watts each).

[Mgamer20o0]

1 x 36 watt Bright Kit


Item # 30361



Just like the 1x55w kit but the reflector size is 17.25"L x 4"W x 2"H. Requires one 36w CF Bulb

ahsupply.com

do you want to add co2 and ferts? what kind of plants do you want? there is no rule that you need 3wpg to grow plants. there are lower light plants which dont need as much lighting.

[Hound]

Ok, just to say it. A 18" t8 flourescent light will always be a 15 watt bulb. Doesn't matter what brand it will still be 15 watts. If you buy a compact flourescent bulb it won't work or be able to attach to a 18" flourescent fixture.

Currently on my 50g aquarium (same as a 55g just 2 inches shorter) I use a kitchen light fixture that holds a pair of 48" t12 flourescent bulbs giving me 80 watts of light. Some people also use shop lights. The main thing is to make fairly certain that they can't get wet. My lighting is good enough for low light and some medium light plants. If you want higher light than this then you need to look into compact flourescent light fixtures. A single 2x65 watt cf fixture would give you some 130 watts of light. Also you could go with a 4x65 watt cf fixture for 260 watts of light. Unfortunatley this all cost money.

[legendaryfrog]

I wouldnt recommend shop lights. They're main purpose it light up large areas, like shops. putting a shop light over a tiny aquarium means that lots of the light is wasted.

On my 80 gallon puffer tank, i used to have 1 40 watt shop light. the aquarium was only moderately bright. i went to petsmart and purchased 2 30 watt AQUARIUM bulbs. hooking them up, i noticed 1 was broken, yet the tank was much brighter.

[Blueiz]

My hoods are able to hold one 18" strip. So I would like to just find a 18" strip that would fit inside of it. All be it ones that are stronger than my current ones (15watts each).


I would highly suggest you invest in a whole new strip..Jebo will cost around 75-100 doillars shipped off of ebay, if you look carefully for the right deal you could possibly come out cheaper..

Blue

[Hound]

I wouldnt recommend shop lights. They're main purpose it light up large areas, like shops. putting a shop light over a tiny aquarium means that lots of the light is wasted.

I meant a shop light fixture with a reflector actually so that most of the light is pointed down. Also atm I use ge 6500k bulbs from walmart at $7 a pair and my lower light aquarium is doing fine.

[loaches r cool]

Shoplights are a cheap solution that will work fine for a cheap setup. I used a dual flourescent shoplight over a 40g long (4' tank) and all I had to do to get appox 3wpg was to swap the old magnetic ballast for a new electronic 4X ballast and I overdrove the two bulbs. $3 Phillips daylight delux bulbs at Lowes or home depot are also about the brightest bulb you can get and definatly the most economic (for T8s). On my 75G I used 4 bulbs but built them into the canopy instead of using a shoplight fixture. If you can DIY you have many more options. ;)

[Jeff-Like-Beer]

I did what alot of people have done (after searching opps). I just gutted the ballast and put in some of those screw in daylight flouerscent (spelling?) bulbs. Looks hellah (is that a word...) brighter. And I'll only have to spend about 8 bucks to replace all of them when need be. But on another question. These new bulbs say that their 20W is comparable to a 75 watt incadescent bulb. Would it be better to worry about the total lumens (the light output if that isn't the right word) than the watts?