The only problem with this is that most of these lights come with magentic ballasts, which are not as efficient and run way hotter than electronic ballasts.
DIY Compact Fluorescent (CFL) Strip Light Retrofit
- Thread starter BoredAgain
- Start date
The only problem with this is that most of these lights come with magentic ballasts, which are not as efficient and run way hotter than electronic ballasts.
I'm not aware of an 70W digi HID ballast. Regardless, the power-factor isn't a big deal. People have been growing plants under HID's with mag. ballasts for many, many years. Profiting while doing it, I might add.
Depends on the plant coverage. I've got the same lighting over my 10g and my cabomba is *still* light-starved. I'm thinking cabomba may not be doable(at least to the quality I'd like to grow it) without much more *intense* lighting. The issue is that only the tops grow nicely, the rest of the plant withers and dies.
Regardless, I'm not seeing much algae except in the open area where the driftwood covers. Even there, it's sparse.
I know a guy that did 65w over a 10g, algae free. It's all about balance, if you want that much light...well, first you better have a lot of plants.... and then you need to be pumping in a lot of co2 and a lot of nutrients.
It was a joke, hence the "lol", but I do like the idea of an algae farm. Selling algae for a profit sounds good to me.
i just laid mine on the glass strip until i can get better sockets. Make sure you have cooling. Mine started to melt the top with out a fan. I used 3 26w "daylight" bulbs. they are 6500k
I had issues with melting during testing before I mounted them...but after mounting, no issues...it's all about the placement. But, if you can get fans in there, go for it. My other tank's light strip has vents cut into it which also helps a lot. So if anyone has the tools necessary to cut the vents, that would work in place of a fan to a degree.
Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. Currently no white paint or mylar lying around the place.
