Where can I find good inexpensive lights?

flyingfish

flyingfish

time to play!
Dec 26, 2004
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Where do you guys buy your bulbs? I need to replace the bulbs in my Eclipse hood on my 15gal tall tank. I'm ashamed to admit that I've never replaced the bulbs in the 4-5 years I've owned the tank. I am starting to see the effects of inadequate lighting :( . What do you guys think I should replace the bulbs with? Why? Where can I get them - my aquarium stores here aren't great - I'd rather shop online. I also don't want to drive around the city with my 4 yr old and 1 1/2 yr old kids to price bulbs all week. Help me please you guys! Please be as specific as possible - I feel like I'm reading a foreign language when it comes to lighting. :idea2:
Tank specs:
4 adult guppies
4 baby guppies
5-6 green cabomba plants (apprx 10" stems)
3 dwarf amazon swords
2 amazon swords (they've been cut back to nothing - I want them to grow!)

P.S. I really want to have a full aqua-scape but I need to fix that lighting.
 
I'm not sure what size the bulb is, I'm guessing it's probably 15W. You may be able to find a suitable replacement at Home Depot - my local HD has 'plant/aquarium' bulbs available in many sizes, and they're very cheap (around 1/3 of the price of my LFS). These bulbs do have a little bit of a purple colour to them, and if that's unappealing you may be able to find 'daylight' tubes at HD in the right size.
Anything in the 5000K - 10000K range should be fine. The higher the number, the 'bluer' the light will appear. Some bulbs have their Kelvin rating stamped on them or written on the box, some don't; if in doubt look for something that says 'full spectrum daylight' or a bulb specifically for plants and aquariums.
If you find something and aren't sure if it's a good choice, just post and someone will help out :D
 
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Thank you Blinky. I looked at your tanks - nice! your 65gal is similair to what I'd like to aim for. As much as I can in a 15gal. I have to go to Home Depot soon anyway so that was a really good suggestion. Is it possible to have too many watts per gallon? I keep seeing the number 3(wpg). There are actually 2 bulbs in my hood. Does that mean I should aim for 2-20watt bulbs(if they come in that size)? Or could I go higher without causing some kind of algae explosion? I also wonder if the type of light I get will affect my tank temperature. We only have wall units in our house. In the summer my tank temps can get up to 85/86 easily(it's 79 right now in the dead of winter), that's why I have guppies instead of something else. I don't want the temperature ANY higher!
 
40W over a 15g is a nice amount of light IMO. I think a lot of people aim for 3WPG, most plants will do well with that amount of light. I think it ispossible to 'over light' a tank, but not easy to do.
The lights in your hood now should have the wattage indicated on them - if they're standard fluorescents, these are generally 10W per foot; if they're 18" bulbs, they're probably 15W, if they're 24" bulbs they're probably 20W.

When it comes to fluorescents, each type (compact, T5, T12 etc.) has its own particular end caps and ballast, so you can't really substitute any different types of bulb for what you've got (you can have different colour temperatures, just not a different shape/size). I'd take your bulb to the store to make sure you're getting something that will fit - seeing an entire wall filled with bulbs can be overwhelming (at least to me ;))

Because the bulbs will be essentially the same as what you've got, they won't affect the temperature any differently.

If you do want to change the type of lighting (to compact fluorescent from regular, for example) you can get retrofit kits - end caps, wires and ballasts that you wire into your existing hoods. I see www.ahsupply.com recommended a lot for this. Personally, I think what you've got sounds great and wouldn't change it.

Thanks for the compliment :) I'm overhauling the 65g so it's a HUGE mess ATM, and I took my pictures down to save that little bit of bandwith, but I will have to post one in a couple months when the new plants and fixtures are settled in - this planted tank thing is addictive! :D

[edit] If your tank gets that warm, cardinal tetras would do great in your tank - they stay small, look fantastic in a planted tank IMO, and like warmer temperatures. There are possibilities beyond guppies ;) [/edit]
 
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Thanks - a shopping I will go! :)
 
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