Please help me correct my lighting

Phyroath

Phyroath

Senior knowledge seeker
Jan 30, 2008
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Phnom Penh
Hello everyone,

I feel I am not having the correct lighting for my 29g tank. Currently I have two 20W DIY fluorescent lamps which is about 1.6wpg. These lamps are same as office light and I could not find any Kelvin rating with these lamps at all. As i read on the socket it is 20w and on the bulb 61w/imp brighter. Should I add one more upgrading my lighting fixture to 2wpg, stay the same or I should choose another option such as PC fluorescent?

Notes that my tetras and platinum barbs are getting nervous with the current lighting. Appreciate your kind advices.
 
I recently set up ODNO fluorescent lighting on 2 of my tanks (overdriven normal output). I basically built a barebones T-8 lamp setup, and bough the ballasts. I.e. for my 150, I got two 4' T-8 bulbs and a ballast made to run 4 bulbs. I wired this up so each bulb is now 64w instead of 32, and the whole setup ran me like 40 bucks. I'd only attempt it if you're good at DIY/electrical stuff though. I did the same thing for my 30gal, but just retrofitted a new light and replaced the old magnetic ballast with an oversized electronic one.
 
1.6 wpg should let you grow plenty of plants. What I would do before spending too much on upgrading is make sure the bulbs are right. Most bulbs that come with aquariums are pretty poor for growing anything. Find bulbs that are rated between 5,000 and 10,000 K. Daylight bulbs with around 6,700 K are pretty common at most Home Depot or similar stores and work great. You do not need to spend a fortune at the lfs to get grow lights. If you want more light you can OD them as stated for pretty cheap. I use overdriven bulbs on my tanks also.
 
Thanks to both. I would stay with my current lighting as suggested by Pleco for my 29g. Since I experienced with brown algae, my first thought of the issue was with my lighting fixture but now such brown stuff has gone. Sploke I am planning to make a new lighting for my 65g and what you have done is interesting. Obviously I am not good at DIY. Would talk to a few electricians here if I can make one like yours.
 
Thanks again Sploke! I see how the ODNO works. I will have to check availability of stuffs I want and their specifications. Sorry to ask another dump question - how about power consumption for such ODNO system? The reason is that I am my local electricity is very expensive - $0.18/Kwh.
 
Appreciate your kind help with this. I found the manufacturer of my current lighting. I got two 20w in the first pic for my 29g - is it too much light or not enough? Also the ballast specifications I can find from them. Obviously I am not good at electrical stuff and sorry for disturbing you and everyone too much.

Lamptan1.jpg Lamptan2.jpg
 
40w over a 29gal gives you about 1.3wpg. It will be enough to grow most low-light plants, probably won't need much in the way of ferts either.
 
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