PC Lighting

[MitcherNeaf]

Im really confused about lighting, thinking about going with PC lighting cause i feel it might be one of the cheapest routes. I have a 55 gallon and want medium light w/o CO2. How many PC wats do i need for this?
thanks

 

[maxwell1295]

A 130w (2x65w) unit should be good. I'd go ahead and splurge for a 260w (4x65w) unit instead. You can always remove 2 bulbs to keep at 130w.

Trust me on this, you may want to start out with medium lighting, but at some point you WILL want to increase your lighting. I think we have all made that same mistake. It ends up costing you more in the long run. You may as well buy as much lighting as your wallet can handle now. Same goes for CO2.....DIY is decent, but if you plan on staying in the planted tank arena for a while, a switch to pressurized will eventually happen.

 

[macfisto]

Hello,

I am also considering upgrading to PC from the stock normal output fluorescents that came with my 55-gallon tank. There are currently two 24” deluxe full hoods on my tank that fit on the top of my tank. If I decided to go PC, would the hoods that actually hold the bulbs be the same size so they would still fit on the top of my tank? Can I retrofit my existing hoods with the new equipment to make them able to utilize the PC bulbs? Approximately how much would all of this cost?

Thanks

 

[maxwell1295]

There are retrofit kits on eBay in different sizes/wattages. BigAl's also carries the Coralife retrofit kits. The most popular kits seem to be the retrofit kits sold by AH Supply.

 

[Purrbox]

The other option is to buy a glass canopy. That way it doesn't matter what width the new fixtures are, just so long as the length is correct.