Questions on DIY cfl lighting and C02!

S

sCeRaXn

AC Members
May 29, 2009
368
0
16
Im fairly new to planted tanks, but im wanting to turn my 55gal into a moderate to heavy planted tank. I work out of town and can only work on this on the weekends, so i decided ill do it in steps. Today i did the DIY cfl bulbs on my hoods. It looks great but i did the math wrong in the store and ended up with 160watts(4x40w 6500k bulbs). Thats 2.8-2.9wpg...way more than i wanted, but the 40w bulbs were the lowest wattage cfl bulbs i could find. I just went to HD and a few local places and couldnt find anything lower than 40w.

So my options are to keep looking for lower wattage bulbs or start injecting c02 so that i dont get alot of algae. Finding new bulbs would be cheaper, but ill probably need c02 eventually so i might go ahead and get it. My next purchase was going to be a Rena Canister filter, but ill probably have to put that on hold for a few weeks so i can get c02. Which one do you guys think is more important? How long will it take the algae to take over the tank?

And two random questions:
1) When buying cfl replacement bulbs do you go by the wattage of the bulbs they replace or the wattage that the actually use? I bought 40w replacement bulbs but they only use 10w...so do i have 40w in my tank or 160w?

2) Are the Marineland HOB canister filters any good? Theyre 30% off at my local Petsmart and that would allow me to get a new filter and C02 at the same time. Im currently running a Top Fin 60 and a powersweep powerhead.

Thanks in advance.
 
1. You go by the actual wattage they use, so you really have 40 watt total. I would replace them with the 23 watt bulbs instead, and you're pretty set for low/medium plants.

2. Are we talking about the Magnum HOT filters, if so you can use them on a planted tank, but you need to get the out-take as low as possible under the water line. So that you're not out-gassing Co2 too fast.
 
you need alot of those bulbs on a 55g to get any light.
i use 6 100watt( 26 watts each) on a 29g tank to get medium high light nad i have a reflector.
i had some on a 55g, 8 total and it was still not medium lighting,. they lose alot of reflection because of there shape.
i would use 10 of the 26 watt bulbs on a 55 to get decent lighting. as much as the bulbs are now you could buy a fixture cheaper.
the 10w you bought are great for the 10g screwin type hoods.
have a pic of the hood?
 
Im no expert, but that seems like WAY too much light. I have polished metal reflectors behind each bulb as well as foil covering the whole underside of the hood. My plants were surviving with the 30w(total) strip lights, so it seems like adding 9 times that amount would be too much light. Ill try the 4 23w bulbs and see how that does and if if i need more ill add more.

Riiz-Yea im talking about the Magnum HOT filters. Im still not sold on them because a large canister filter isnt much more, so ill just have to do more research to see which one ill need. The Tank has a Large Pacu, High Fin Pleco, 7 BA Tetras, and its about to get 5 Boesemi Rainbows. The Pacu gets a wide range of foods that cause a mess, so my little Top Fin 60 is struggling to keep up.

Thanks for all the help. Ill try to get some pics posted today or tomorrow.
 
customdrum said:
you need alot of those bulbs on a 55g to get any light.
i use 6 100watt( 26 watts each) on a 29g tank to get medium high light nad i have a reflector.
i had some on a 55g, 8 total and it was still not medium lighting,. they lose alot of reflection because of there shape.
i would use 10 of the 26 watt bulbs on a 55 to get decent lighting. as much as the bulbs are now you could buy a fixture cheaper.
the 10w you bought are great for the 10g screwin type hoods.
have a pic of the hood?
Click to expand...
sounds like a lot of light imo. this thread seems more realistic to me:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147012
 
I've been using an HOT pro system (w/ BioWheel) for quite awhile now with very little to complain about. It's a great, quiet, versatile filter. The media cartridge is not huge, but you can put just about anything in it.
I think it would be a little underpowered for a 55g tank though. I've had it on a 29g, and i felt that it was just barely adequate. Now 2 of them on a 55 would be awesome; one running bio media, and the other with the polishing cartridge.
 
I just went and exchanged the 10w bulbs for 4 26w. Ive gotta modify some things in the hood to get the larger bulbs to fit but it shouldnt take too long. Im also gonna have to make new reflectors because the other ones wont fit on these bulbs. With the new bulbs ill have around 1.95wpg which im hoping will be enough for what i want to do.

thrak76- So one HOT is barely enough for your 29gal? If thats the case then im gonna get a larger canister filter because using two Magnums will be over $100 more than running a single large filter.

Im about to order a regulator for a pressurized c02 system. Im not sure if im gonna use Paintball tanks(ive got 4 large carbon tanks) or my 20lb welding tank. Id like to use the paintball tanks if i can since i dont really have the room for the large tank...i guess ill just leave that decision until i can see if the reg fits on the paintball tanks. A good friend of mine owns a paintball store so ill probably get the c02 for free!
 
As for your stocking, is that Pacu in your 55gal, soon to be planted tank?

And as for the HOT Magnum, they are not good solo filters, they are one of the best water polishers, which is why I like them.
 
Yea the Pacu is in the 55g thats gonna be planted. Hes basically the centerpiece of the tank, and all the aquascaping/decorations will be based around him. Im going for a South American Mangrove theme so ill mostly have various swords and other Native plants with a few that arent native just for a little contrast. The Rainbows will be the only fish that isnt native to SA, but theyre free so i cant pass them up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom