Tank Lighting

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HarmonyMahi

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Nov 20, 2004
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Hehe sorry for all the questions...

I guess my lighting isn't strong enough for my tank (40 watts in a 46-gal). Most of my plants require 2wpg, with the ozelot sword being a little higher and the prospective java fern being a little lower. So now I'm looking into buying new lighting, but I have some questions:

What's the difference between fluorescent, metal halide, T-5 HO (whatever that is...), incandescent, and VHO lighting? Is one better than the others, and which one is best for a 46-gal need at least 2wpg tank with fishies and a budget?

I've been looking online for lights, and the only ones that will fit my tank (24 inches) are at a max 20 watts... what should I do?

Thanks! :bowing:
 
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Since I'm pretty new to plants/lighting myself, I'll leave the descriptions of the different options to those more knowledgeable.
You should be able to find 24" compact fluorescent fixtures - one bulb is 55W and you may be able to find a fixture that holds two bulbs side by side for 110W. There are 24" fixtures that hold 2 or even 3 standard fluorescent bulbs, which would give you up to 60W, or you could investigate DIY if you're 'handy'.
If you've got a 24" 46g, is it a square or hex tank?
 
It's 36" across the top, I just have 2 24" bulbs in the fixture. They're staggered, though, so the light gets everywhere.
 
bigalsonline offers some lights that put out enough watts.

Heres a link to a power compact strip light with 96 watts.
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=29551;category_id=1875;pcid1=1843;pcid2=

Heres one with 110 watts:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=24081;category_id=1875;pcid1=1843;pcid2=

Maybe one of those would suit your needs. I am pretty sure those would be good for your tank. Hopefully a more knowledgeable member of these forums can reply and let ya know more about this.
 
Forget about VHO (very high output) and HO (high output) fluorecent fixtures. Yeah, they work, but they're costly and burn through bulbs quickly. Forget MH (metal halide) as well, it costs a bundle and gives off a lot of heat. Don't even mention incandecent in this forum ;) . JK, I know that there are plenty of folks out there who've had great success with planted tanks before fluo was mainstream, but they're no longer necessary.

You want fluorecent, either normal (NO) or power compact (PC)

If you want to increase the amount of light over your tank, you'll have a hard time doing so with your own hood. You can check out the retrofit kits at www.ahsupply.com for PC kits to put into your hood.

You can make your own NO hood fairly cheaply. You can pick up ballasts that run 2 3-4ft. bulbs for between $15-$30, although the price may vary depending on the stores in your area.

3 ft. T12 bulbs use 30w each, but put out less light/watt than a T8 or T5.

The number after the T indicates how many 8ths of an inch the bulb is in diameter. So a T12 is 12/8" or 1.5" in diameter. The wpg rule of thumb is for light output from a T12 bulb. If you have a 3ft T8 bulb, it uses less watts (3ft. T8 is 25w), but puts out more light.

Also, you can pick up shop lights that fit your tank. The 3ft. shop lights should fit perfectly, the end caps should hook onto the tank trim just right. A little black spray paint and it doesn't look terrible. This is a pretty cost effective way to get more light in your tank, but when I say it doesn't look terrible, I mean terrible. It doesn't look great and in time you'll want to have a nice looking hood over your tank. But it is a good way to get you started with more light at a low cost and you can start saving money for that nicer hood.
 
Thanks a lot! I went to that website and ordered one of the kits. I'm not very handy, but my boyfriend is. :p He says he hates my fish obsession, but whenever I get something new for my aquarium (like my spiffy Fluval filter), he always wants to install it and play with it first. Water changes, however, are a different story. :)
 
Hahaha I'm so dumb...

OK... new problem. :o

The light kit got here! It looks fabulous and I sat down right away to (watch my boyfriend) install the kit. We soon realized (after gutting my original light) that my hood is too narrow to fit the reflectors in. We looked at a multitude of options, tried to jam the reflectors in, and even went to the LFS to try and get a wider hood. We were foiled, however, at every turn, and now I have an unassembled light kit, a useless empty hood, and a bunch of loose wires lying about the living room.

I went back to where I ordered the kit from and ordered a hood made for the kits (as I should have done in the first place... I'm just cheap). It's on express delivery, which means it should get here on Monday.

My question is this: what am I supposed to do about my fishtank!? I was thinking of moving my floor lamp over (it has 3 80w lightbulbs in it) and pointing it at the tank, but will that work? Can my plants survive 4 days like that? Will it mess up my fish? If that won't work, what will?

Any answers are appreciated! Thanks! :D
 
HarmonyMahi said:
I was thinking of moving my floor lamp over (it has 3 80w lightbulbs in it) and pointing it at the tank, but will that work? Can my plants survive 4 days like that? Will it mess up my fish? If that won't work, what will?
Click to expand...

I would be leery of using 3 80 watt incandescent lights on your tank; too much light tends to encourage algea more than anything else. You may want to use one of those bulbs for, say 8 hours a day until you can get a new hood fitted with the lights from AHsupply. Or, you could leave the tank unlit, as your plants should survive for a few days in the relative dark.

You folks agree?
 
:idea2: I can turn on one, two, or all three of the lights. I'll just turn on one, so it's 80w over a 46-gal. That should be fine for a few days, right?
 
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