need help with lighting,please share your knowledge!

[Ozalie]

I have a 30g hexagon tank with a Fluval 204.It's home to juvie rainbow's,4corys,and 4 otto's.Also have java fern in this tank.
All test's are fine(ammonia,rites,rates(15)p.h(8.2).The tank is 24"high with no natural sunlight entering it.Lights go on at 7am to 8pm.

Right now I have two 15"bulbs lighting the tank.There 15watts apeice and are sunlight bulbs.I realize this isn't enough watts and I've had the typical problem's one gets with low lighting(brown algea)the light fixtures are two strip lights,which are to long for a 30g hex top. I've tried other bulb's(aquarium/plant 15w)also tried a grow bulb(120w) in a pendant fixture,with no luck.I don't have the cash for a metal halide fixture. Anybody out there that can help? At this point I'm pretty burnt out on this problem!

 

[carpguy]

You don't give the other dimensions for your hex. Since I'm not that familiar with them I just went with All-Glass's 35g hex (20x23, 24 tall).

You should be able to fit the 2x36 Bright kit from AH Supply on top of that. I'd go with a DIY top and mount the side by side version (17.5 x 7) inside that. $63 + (reasonable) shipping and you'd be well over 2 wpg. You could probably even fit 1 or 2 13s in there as well if you wanted a moonlight or if you wanted to go up over 3wpg.

 

[Anton Wernher]

also smaller 24 inch shop lights might work for you. A 2 bulb system runs about 10 or 12 dollars.

 

[tyler]

you could try making a diy hood and using screw in power compacts from a hardware store. some people have been able to find them in 6500k at 19watts. two or three of those would do a nice job.

and if you can't find those, any lights of america outdoor fixture uses a 6500k pc bulb. i want to use the 65 watt fixture for a planted tank.

or you could just get bulbs from ahsupply.com, but i have no experience with that.