I grew tired of my LED hoods because I can't really grow any plants under them. I picked up 3 24" incandescent hoods for a decent price. I'm going to put 2 on my 55g and 1 on my 20g. My question is what strength of CFL bulbs should I put on the 55 and the same for the 20. I will be using flourish products including excel.
Lighting question
- Thread starter Laser
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
For the 55 I would try and max out the hood. There should be a sticker somewhere that tells you the max bulb wattage it can safely handle.
For the 20 I might try a couple of fifteen or twenty watt bulbs if the hood can handle them, it's a pretty shallow tank.
For the 37, I have one of those (**** deep tank for its size). You might be surprised what will grow under that T8 with a good bulb. Maybe go with a cheap T5HO dual bulb fixture. Will be high light but you could replace a bulb with a ColorMax type to bring it back down to medium-ish.
For the 20 I might try a couple of fifteen or twenty watt bulbs if the hood can handle them, it's a pretty shallow tank.
For the 37, I have one of those (**** deep tank for its size). You might be surprised what will grow under that T8 with a good bulb. Maybe go with a cheap T5HO dual bulb fixture. Will be high light but you could replace a bulb with a ColorMax type to bring it back down to medium-ish.
Yeah, I have to take my shirt off to put my arm in the 37, but it's a good tank for a couple of angels. If I can grow low light plants under a single T8 I'll give it a shot. Any bulb recommendations? Obviously I want something that's 6500k, but I don't know if one brand is any better than another.
The 20 is a high, so I'll probably try the 18 watt cfl's I have. For the 55 I'm going to try some 26 watters.
BTW you were right about growing plants under the t8 in my 10g. It's working out quite well.
The 20 is a high, so I'll probably try the 18 watt cfl's I have. For the 55 I'm going to try some 26 watters.
BTW you were right about growing plants under the t8 in my 10g. It's working out quite well.
Good to hear about the ten gallon.
I still have my 75 gallon under a single T8 bulb. It's only about one inch shorter than the 37 and everything still grows like crazy. Stick with low to medium light plants (arranged appropriately) and all should work fine. Color temp is really not the issue (unless you like the look of 6500k, I personally prefer about 8000k). Same as the ten gallon, look for a "full spectrum daylight" bulb somewhere in the 3000-10000k range.
As for brands... They are all about the same unless you get into the really low quality (generic no-name brands) or very high quality (ATI, Giesemann, etc) stuff.
I still have my 75 gallon under a single T8 bulb. It's only about one inch shorter than the 37 and everything still grows like crazy. Stick with low to medium light plants (arranged appropriately) and all should work fine. Color temp is really not the issue (unless you like the look of 6500k, I personally prefer about 8000k). Same as the ten gallon, look for a "full spectrum daylight" bulb somewhere in the 3000-10000k range.
As for brands... They are all about the same unless you get into the really low quality (generic no-name brands) or very high quality (ATI, Giesemann, etc) stuff.
hcourts
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I got ge brand bulbs that are 10,000. I like them a lot and the color is wonderful and my plants are growing like crazy!! Same with my smaller tank and the t8. It should be fine:$
Similar threads
Latest posts
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Nitrates up, pH and total alkalinity down
- Latest: Airborne 82nd