power compacts

[mason]

does anyone know if i can put bigger wattage bulbs in a power compact 65 watter.. I have a 90 gal and the lighting is not really good to hit the bottom for my corals. i dont really want to buy new lights any suggestions?

 

[thominil]

You can't stick a higher wattage bulb on a ballast that is rated for less. I suggest you look into T5 High Output (HO), Metal Halide (MH), or LED as they are a lot better lighting options then PC. Welcome to AA!

 

[mgamer20o0]

if you do it will only output the 65w your fixture is. dont think its good for the bulb too. if you need more light get a new fixture.

 

[drm]

I haven't posted here for a couple of years.... thought I would chime in, though.
I've done two things in the past to add extra light to my 100 gal: One was to remove the cover from part of the tank and use an old light fixture from a previous tank in addition to the one I was using. The double light fixtures helped a lot. If you don't have an old one around, they also make some "clip on" type light fixtures that aren't that expensive, which could be used to boost your light - you can get a reasonable size for under $100. The other thing I did was to buy some "under water LED lights" off of ebay. They attach with suction sups in a row at the top edge of the tank. The downside to these is that the glass on the lights needs to be cleaned periodically, coralline scraped off, etc. They wouldn't be enough on their own.... but they are supposedly good on energy consumption, and they did give me enough extra wattage, i.e. there is a noticeable difference when these lights are off and I am only using my power compacts. Here is one version of these on ebay currently:
28" 60 white Wide LED Bar car Aquarium Lighting Power - eBay (item 160442349673 end time Jun-13-10 08:48:20 PDT)
Mine have actinics mixed in with the white lights, but there are many types out there.

 

[melosu58]

As mentioned above you cant put a higher watt bulb in for a ballast that`s not rated that high.

 

[mason]

ok ty for all the advice i will just buy a new lighting system didnt want to but it looks like i have no chice thank you all again

 

[cabezon]

t5HO

 

[Jimbo7]

ok ty for all the advice i will just buy a new lighting system didnt want to but it looks like i have no chice thank you all again

Lighting is the one thing I have learned not to skimp on. It sucks dropping the cash but it is totally worth it. You should look for a used fixture, tons of people are taking down their tanks because of the economy, you can find some awesome deals.