nevermind... original poster has not responded. no offence, but if you are asking about youre setup, deeplove, then indicate so.
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Anyway to increase lighting?
- Thread starter anduknodis
- Start date
Well, since the original poster hasn't posted anything since, then yeah... Maybe I can get some help. Not that I'm hijacking or changing the subject, but I'm some what stummped about a couple of issues. I know CF's are better in terms of space, but I'm actually on a budget and Home Depot is a couple of blocks away. So I want the best option for me and maybe an answer that will help out the original poster also.
2 Birds on stone hopefully.
2 Birds on stone hopefully.
Well, if you've got an incandecent hood, you've got two budget options:
1 - Get the screw in PC type bulbs and use your existing canopy
2 - Buy a strip light. The two bulb types sit nicely on top of a tank, I've got a 2 bulb 2 ft. fixture over my office tank, works well, plants grow nicely. It's not the most attractive option though.
1 - Get the screw in PC type bulbs and use your existing canopy
2 - Buy a strip light. The two bulb types sit nicely on top of a tank, I've got a 2 bulb 2 ft. fixture over my office tank, works well, plants grow nicely. It's not the most attractive option though.
happychem said:
For option #1...
No lights yet. I have the bare tanks and I want to work from there.
#2...
That's what I wanted to hear. The fixture I saw has 2 bulbs 40W T12 if I'm not mistaken. It's some what cheaper than the PCs. The fixture is about $24 and change. All the rest of the money would go on bulbs which wouldn't be as expensive and I can buy in bulk.
I hope I make sense.
Yes, except for a 10 g tank go with either the 18" fixture or the 2 ft. fixture. Of course, if you have 2 10 g side by side you could go with a 3 ft. fixture. In any event, the 2 ft. doesn't look bad, and if you build a wooden canopy for the tank at some later time you can just canniballize the ballast and end caps from the shop light to mount into the wood hood.
deeplove said:
I've used the Gro-Lux but didn't like the pinkish hue it gave off and it's dimmer, so I switched to daylights rated between 6,500k-6,700k. You can mix and match bulbs if you want and I do myself (mixing daylight with 50/50), but to achieve the color I want rather than to improve plant growth. Mixing a daylight bulb with a Gro-Lux bulb won't make much of a difference in plant growth compared to 2 daylights.
Now we're getting somewhere.
That's something that I already thought about. I will try a DIY canopy also but for now I'm just going with the simple and basic construction. The fixture that I saw for $24 and change is all white. As far as getting some good reflection off of it, what material can I use? Something inepensive but that works. If not, I'll wait till I make my canopy.
The CFs will be for a bigger tank I'm planing to buy soon. 55G -100G+. That will be for the living room and of course, I want it to be GOODLOOKING.
But for now, I have a couple of 10G laying around the house that I wasn't using. About 11 of them. SO I might put doubles here and there or line them up or something. But I'm looking at just pairing up 2 10Gs together and leaving a couple single 10s.
I'll buy the 3Fters for the pairs and the 2Fters for the singles.
As far as the bulbs go, I think the fixtures use T12s. For Medium to High lights, what bulbs to you guys recommend? And for Low to Medium what do you also recommend? If I can buy bulk, even better. So keep Home Depot in mind when you answer.
But really... Thanks guys. You all have been helpful.
Thanks Spud. 2 Daylights sounds sweet. So the GrowLux would be dimmer right? If so, would that help the growth for low light plants better than the med to high light plants?
That's something that I already thought about. I will try a DIY canopy also but for now I'm just going with the simple and basic construction. The fixture that I saw for $24 and change is all white. As far as getting some good reflection off of it, what material can I use? Something inepensive but that works. If not, I'll wait till I make my canopy.
The CFs will be for a bigger tank I'm planing to buy soon. 55G -100G+. That will be for the living room and of course, I want it to be GOODLOOKING.
But for now, I have a couple of 10G laying around the house that I wasn't using. About 11 of them. SO I might put doubles here and there or line them up or something. But I'm looking at just pairing up 2 10Gs together and leaving a couple single 10s.
I'll buy the 3Fters for the pairs and the 2Fters for the singles.
As far as the bulbs go, I think the fixtures use T12s. For Medium to High lights, what bulbs to you guys recommend? And for Low to Medium what do you also recommend? If I can buy bulk, even better. So keep Home Depot in mind when you answer.
But really... Thanks guys. You all have been helpful.
phanmc said:
Thanks Spud. 2 Daylights sounds sweet. So the GrowLux would be dimmer right? If so, would that help the growth for low light plants better than the med to high light plants?
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deeplove said:
Seems you're a bit confused on the low/medium/high light denomination. When we talk about a low light plant, we aren't saying that they grow better in a lower light enviroment. A low light plant will grow just as well if you stuck them under intense bright light, it'll probably grow a little faster even. What separates a low light plant from a medium or high light plant is that they can grow in conditions with less light.
What determines a low/medium/high light setup? The amount of wattage you have shining down into the tank. I forgot what the wattage of a 48" normal fluorescent tube is but lets say its 30w, if you have of two them in a shoplight hanging over a 20 gallon tank, you have 3wpg which is considered a medium to high light setup. It doesn't matter if you are using warm light, daylight, or Gro-Lux, you will still have 3wpg.
