Argh, where to find a HO light for my hex tank?

[kyryah]

I have a problem... I have a 30 gallon TALL (hex) tank and a 14 watt bulb... Yeah... that is not gonna work.

I can find plenty of HO bulbs, but none that fit a 16" fixture.

I can't afford a new hood. What am I going to do? LOL, it is quite the quandary. If I hang a longer light so that it is slightly above the tank, will the glass reduce the light to the point so as to make it worthless?

Any suggestions on where to shop?

Kristina

 

[Bk718]

you would need a t-5 fixture that would support High output bulbs.. Another option is going for PC.

 

[rocker92]

do you have a hood atleast 16 inches? if so you could retrofit it with CFLs.

 

[kyryah]

I don't have another fixture... But I did have the epiphany that if I could find an incandescent fixture 18" or less, I could use two CFLs in it and triple my wpg. Hmmm, does anyone make incandescent fixtures anymore? LOL.

Retro fitting is a possibility, I would need some instruction, but I am pretty darn smart and I could figure it out.

What is PC?

Thanks,
Kristina

 

[kyryah]

Another thought - what about a CFL spotlighted from the side towards the bottom of the tank? I don't want to get too goofy looking with this, lol, but I do have some nice desk lamp fixtures...

Kristina

 

[Daniel K.]

Do you have room to hang something over it? There are some nice pendant fixtures out there, but they aren't cheap.

 

[DoctaQ]

Another thought - what about a CFL spotlighted from the side towards the bottom of the tank? I don't want to get too goofy looking with this, lol, but I do have some nice desk lamp fixtures...

Kristina

i heard from my friend at the lfs that the glass on the side of tanks change the spectrum. at any rate its not very efficient. plus what happens if your plants grow taller than your light? haha

ive actually tried it before. it didnt make much of a diff. i ended up putting the cfl on the top of the tank and got a lot better growth.

if your budget is tight you could grab a couple work lamps at home depot. couple 26w cfls (adjust accordingly)

if you have a bit more to spend buy a fluorex spotlight and play with that
lights of america comes in daylight spectrum

even more buy mh! yay haha just messing

 

[DoctaQ]

hmm
with 30 gal you could actually run a 70w mh. thats big bucks tho. other light sources might not provide the penetration...hehe