a couplebasic newbie light questions

[zazz]

I have a second hand 55G that came with a 4' perfecto plastic hood. In the hood are two 24" strip lights holding GE plant/aquarium bulbs.
They have "regulaer old" 2 pins that you put in and twist. I think it says they are t12 ( could they be?)they are fat.
no wattage label that I can see.
Now, My question is, If I want around 2 WPG are there 24" bulbs of sufficient wattage Ican use in these fixtures?

If not, I think I can use the ahs 2/55 KIT, This":
http://ahsupply.com/36-55w.htm
right? would that fit in the old plastic hood?

If I got a shop light fixture instead, are there appropriate bulbs that would fit that? I had been looking forward to a 4' tank because I thought I could use a shoplight, but now I am not sure...
If this should be in equipment forun, I apologize. I figured you folks would know.
This would be my 1st tank trying to grow anything besides anacharis,javefern,javamoss.
I would like to get enough light to enable a few more varieties, AND to keep plants happy, not leggy. I Do not (yet) want to get into CO2. I think 2wpg is about right, correct?
I will have questions about substrates too

 

[UCF-Planted]

Unfortunately you cannot just put higher wattage bulbs in a fixture and get more light out, the fixture has to be designed to provide that extra power. 24" T12 bulbs are 20 watts. If they are about 1.5" diameter they are T12 bulbs. The kit you asked about is highly recommended for 55 gallon tanks by those in the know, and they should retrofit into your current hood. If you went with, say, a double bulb shop light you would have 80W of light, but the reflector would also not be as efficient, so you would have perhaps half the usable light you would get from the ahsupply kit. If you do not want to deal with ferts and CO2 then you probably wouldn't do too badly with the shop lights. Growth would be fairly slow, but you wouldn't have rampant algae which you will have with the ahsupply kit with no CO2 and no ferts. Here's the obligatory link to the sites of both Rex Grigg (http://www.rexgrigg.com/) and Tom Barr: (http://www.barrreport.com/)

 

[rich311k]

Those bulbs are 20w each. No other wattage would work. So it is not really enough light for much of anything to grow. I am not sure on the retrofits having never used one.

A single 96 watt pc fixture would do the job, providing you have glass tops.

 

[phanmc]

Standard fluorescent bulb wattage are limited by size, the 24" tubes are around 18-20w depending on whether they're T12, T10, or T8. You cannot get a higher wattage without the increase in tube length.

With your current hood the best case scenario is a total of 40w, which is not enough light.

The 2x55w AH supply kit will give you what you need and probably more, CO2 might become an issue. That's because the kit uses the more efficient PC lights and a better reflector. Might want to call them up to get their opinion on it and also see whether the kits ca fit in your hood.

4ft shoplights can use 40w tubes, so a pair of them will give you 80w. That will still be low light but you will have more options than just anacharis and java plants. It will also not require CO2.

 

[zazz]

Thank you for all the replies! This is just the help I needed. TY
I do have a glass top. can you say more about a 96W pc fixture?
one more follow up Q. Is it possible to use lower wattage bulbs that a fixture is made for?
for instance could I put two 40s in the ahs kit55
I am off to read the "obligatory links." Thanks for posting them I hadn't run acroess them before I don't think.

 

[rich311k]

Something like This fixture would do the trick.

 

[zazz]

Thank you Rich311k. that does look nice.
out of my price range however.
I do like the reflectors on the ahs kits. Especially if it will fit in the hood I have, I am leaning in that direction.
I am not overly concerned about algae, but I definitely don't want to get nto a situation where the plants really need CO2 supplementation.
What about running 2 40 watt tubes in a 2/55watt kit?
Probably not, because The 55's they talk about are a whole different shape.

 

[Plecosterone]

You could use shop lights with electronic ballasts, 32watt T8 bulbs and overdrive them. For the cost of one more ballast you get about 70% more light 32+(32x70%)=54.4watts per bulb. That gives you roughly 108 watts for a very reasonable price. T8 daylight bulbs are cheap at any home depot, about $6.00 for 2.

 

[UCF-Planted]

as for running a 40W tube in a 55W kit, Power Compacts are a totally different type of connection from regular fluorescents. You can run bulbs with a higher wattage ballast than they are intended for, as long as it is a ballast intended for the same type of light. This is called overdriving, like Plecosterone mentioned, and it does work, just shortens the life of the overdriven bulb. Personally, I have a 20W bulb on a 40W ballast for my 20 Long tank, which puts the light output closer to the same as a 30W bulb, which I felt was necessary to be able to even grow java fern and moss.

 

[zazz]

great answers. Thank you, UCF once again just the info I need.

plecosterone, that is sounding like a good idea. I would in effect get more light by overdriving the 32s than by just using the 40s?
I just don't get what you mean by "for the price of one more ballast".