Thinking of upgrading my lighting system......need help?
- Thread starter Mooch28
- Start date
I've got CF tubes over a tank that have been in use for 3 years with no appreciable loss, at least that I can see. The plants are doing well, so I'll be watching and take it a year at a time.
Len
Len
Wow, great stuff! Sounds like you've got a planMooch28 said:Yes i do know about, C02, nutrients, etc.....wont do it though till lighting is increased.
But ive actually decided to go with the 4x55 watt now, as it will only cost me 180 with taxes and shipping to canada and will give me 220 watts for my 72 gallon, around 3.2 watts per gallon to 3.4 watts per gallon.........Yeah!
I'm using 2 x 55W and 2 x 96W PC (new fixture was installed yesterday, yay!). I bought my 192W Satellite on ebay, cost me about $260CDN after taxes, shipping and brokerage fees/duty - not a bad deal; I wanted something with a fan and dual power cords, which I think I ended up paying a bit extra for. *Fingers crossed* it seems to be working well so far
Blinky said:Wow, great stuff! Sounds like you've got a plan
I'm using 2 x 55W and 2 x 96W PC (new fixture was installed yesterday, yay!). I bought my 192W Satellite on ebay, cost me about $260CDN after taxes, shipping and brokerage fees/duty - not a bad deal; I wanted something with a fan and dual power cords, which I think I ended up paying a bit extra for. *Fingers crossed* it seems to be working well so far
Hows your plants doing?
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Well the new fixture was just installed yesterday, but before that there was 110W PC and 60W T12 on the tank, and the plants are doing really well. I recently yanked a lot of the easy plants and put in some more demanding ones; most of what I got wasn't in great shape at the store, so what I've got right now is a bunch of small plants that are just starting to thrive. All the new growth looks really healthy, so hopefully it's just a matter of waiting for a few weeks/months and crossing my fingers that the tank will look great
Blinky said:Well the new fixture was just installed yesterday, but before that there was 110W PC and 60W T12 on the tank, and the plants are doing really well. I recently yanked a lot of the easy plants and put in some more demanding ones; most of what I got wasn't in great shape at the store, so what I've got right now is a bunch of small plants that are just starting to thrive. All the new growth looks really healthy, so hopefully it's just a matter of waiting for a few weeks/months and crossing my fingers that the tank will look great
Good luck Blinky, your tank looks great from your pics!
One more question though before you go to sleep
Where did you buy your tubes from, and for how much. Im refering to the 55 watt ones, because im also in around Toronto, Brampton too be exact, and they seem so expensive at the LFS. Did you try any speciality lighting stores?
You can get 55W PC bulbs at Home Depot, but I haven't checked them out to see if they're any good for a planted tank (K rating).
My 110W fixture came with bulbs, so the only bulb I've bought so far is a 96W Coralife 'high intensity purified super daylight' 10 000K to replace the actinic that came with my new fixture. I bought it at Big Al's; it was pricey ($99.00), next time I'll likely shop around - I've seen similar bulbs on ebay for less.
You could also try a store like Living Lighting - I was looking for some very specific bulbs once and they told me even if it wasn't something they normally have in stock, they'd order it for me.
My 110W fixture came with bulbs, so the only bulb I've bought so far is a 96W Coralife 'high intensity purified super daylight' 10 000K to replace the actinic that came with my new fixture. I bought it at Big Al's; it was pricey ($99.00), next time I'll likely shop around - I've seen similar bulbs on ebay for less.
You could also try a store like Living Lighting - I was looking for some very specific bulbs once and they told me even if it wasn't something they normally have in stock, they'd order it for me.
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Blinky said:
Hey Blinky, are you using any C02 in your tank, because you seem too have a ton of lighting, well over 3 watts per gallon. Have you been seeing any excess algae?
Hi Mooch
I started out with less lighting (100W PC & 60W T12) and less demanding plants. Once I got the hang of keeping plants alive, I cut down on some of the easier plants and put in a few that are more demanding when it comes to light. With the new fixture, there's 4.6WPG PC on the tank - it's quite a bit, but the tank is 24" deep, and I want to make sure some light gets to the bases of the bushy stem plants as well as the foreground plants.
I use DIY CO2 and keep the CO2 at ~25-30ppm, and mix my own PMDD fertilizer. There's very little algae in the tank. I do keep a crew of algae-eaters - 5 otocinclus, a marble bristlenose and two SAEs - who do a great job. They're all constantly cleaning the plant leaves and substrate. I do find that about once or twice a month I need to use the algae magnet to wipe a light coating of green algae off the front glass, but things seem basically pretty balanced
I started out with less lighting (100W PC & 60W T12) and less demanding plants. Once I got the hang of keeping plants alive, I cut down on some of the easier plants and put in a few that are more demanding when it comes to light. With the new fixture, there's 4.6WPG PC on the tank - it's quite a bit, but the tank is 24" deep, and I want to make sure some light gets to the bases of the bushy stem plants as well as the foreground plants.
I use DIY CO2 and keep the CO2 at ~25-30ppm, and mix my own PMDD fertilizer. There's very little algae in the tank. I do keep a crew of algae-eaters - 5 otocinclus, a marble bristlenose and two SAEs - who do a great job. They're all constantly cleaning the plant leaves and substrate. I do find that about once or twice a month I need to use the algae magnet to wipe a light coating of green algae off the front glass, but things seem basically pretty balanced
