what kind of light is this? I am having a hard time finding a replacement

[summit]

I believe its a 23 watt CFL, but the shape seems to be unique, anyone know of any online retailers that have some suitable for the aquarium?

Secondly is this a half decent light? My tank is 8 gallons, its about 12" deep, so at 3 watts per gallon, am I good with some low light plants? I had my heart set on the following:

cryptocoryne wendtii tropica
water sprite
anubias petite
java fern
flame moss
dwarf baby tears
dwarf hairgrass

the only three I am unsure about are dwarf baby tears, flame moss and dwarf hair grass, but I have been told they survive well under low light, they just do not grow which is fine with me and the flame moss would be closer to the light.

 

[fort384]

First off, you really cannot apply the watts per gallon rule to an 8 gal tank. More important is the minimum light threshold when you are dealing with tanks under about 20 gal or so.

As for the bulb, there are a couple of things: 1, what color temperature is it? It is important that the color temp is in the 6500k to 10000k range to provide lighting for plants. 2nd, the shape of the bulb will make it fairly ineffective at getting light into a tank. So even if the bulb is 23W, you have to figure that at least half of the lighting is not going to get into the tank because of the way the bulb is shaped. Reflectors are a big part of effective aquarium lighting.

A few of the plants you have selected may survive in low light conditions, but may not exhibit the compact growth you are looking for in your foreground plant selections. They would also benefit from fertilization and co2 injection... you may want to stick with the easier low light plants if you want a low tech setup.

On the other hand, not all low light, low tech setups are created equal. What works for some may not work for others. You can always give it a go and see how it does. If the lighting is inadequate then you can always update down the road.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I have 30W over a 5G tank and it breaks down to about 2-3wpgs for me. Yours is problem 1 or so watts per gallon.

1WPG=Low light
2WPG=Medium Light
3WPG=High Light
(that's a normal basic scale)

I honestly doubt the dwarf hairgrass or the dwarf baby tears will grow very well in a low light situation like you have. They need high light. The flame moss will grow under any light really, just liek any other moss. It just depends how fast it will grow. For you, most likely slow. Mosses aren't a very fast grower anyways.

 

[summit]

thanks for your replies, I don't know what rating it is, it does not say on the bulb, and I no longer have the instructions, thats why I am trying to replace it since its about 6 months old, and I do not know the color temperature, but I am having a hard time locating one, do you know where I can order them?

The light has a good reflector from what I can tell, its sealed off except for some venting for heating, and the acrylic cover is sealed and comes under the water line so that all the light is coming into the tank and none is being leaked out and wasted, it seems like a good system from what I can tell, and my amazon sword I had in there really took off, I guess I will give it a go if only 2 of them are maybe's, I also have fluorite for substrate, should I still be worried about ferts? I am going to also look into some of the home made CO2 setups

 

[fort384]

flourite is great for root feeders. MY guess is if you stick with this light, your tank is not going to benefit from a lot of extra fert in the water column. CO2 will always help, even in a low light tank, although for the lighting you have it is by no means a requirement.

 

[underdog5004]

I have the same light, it's a 10W flourescent bulb. I have 2 of them over my 10G tank, and my plants (anacharis, java fern, christmas moss) are growing like crazy, also doesn't hurt that my fish put out a lot of waste as well, but the light really kicked them into gear. I think the Kelvin rating is something like 5700, but i could be off on that

Matthew

PS - We sell them at the LFS I work at for about 16 dollars

 

[summit]

So After a few months of looking I have still come up with nothing, I have found a 26W version with the correct light spectrum for low light live plants, but my original one was only 23W, everything else is the same configuration, think it will work? or do you think it would be too much light for my ballast, and that 23W would be max? It does not say anything about the max wattage from what I could tell on the light.

The light is for a terranium, but before spending $40 I would like to know if everyone thinks it will work, or if I should look for something 23W or lower? Thanks!

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/edealinv...664&siId=3645302&catParentID=18098&scId=18098

 

[jsoong]

That is a Compact Fluorescent lamp. The ballast is built into the base of the bulb and it just screw into an ordinary socket.

So, basically, you can use any W bulb in the fixture as long as there is room, and the W is not higher than the Max rating for the hood (for heat & fire safety reason.> So i think you can replace the 23 with the 26.

That link you have is a special UV bulb. It will work as it is full spectrum, but you are wasting money as the UV will not penetrate the water. Try to find a Daylight CF bulb in the hardware store that will fit. <Phillips makes one, & there are others.> They seem to have all switched to the spiral pigtail style, so you might have space issue. <Ikea still have the straight style bulbs, but no mention of spectrum.> A Daylight full spectrum CF at the hardware store will run you $10-15. Failing that , you should be able to find a full spectrum aquarium plant CF at the lfs for 1/2 the price of that UV bulb.