29g Lighting Options?

[Stretch]

I need some cheap lighting for my 29g tank. It's not planted right now, and I want to do it sometime soon. I do not want to build my own hood. I also do not want CO2 injection. What are my options? It needs to be as cheap as possible. A small LED or something for moonlight would be great, too.

I'm not sure how much WPG is desireable for what I want. Is 2.25wpg enough? My tank is 30" wide.

I don't know much about the different types of bulbs and what the benefits are of each. I tried searching for a thread like this and didn't find much, any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[src]

It's probably not as cheap as you like, but the 55 watt retrofit kit from AHSupply works like a charm for my 29G tank. I was able to install it in the light hood that came with the tank, and it makes all the difference in the world.

 

[Stretch]

Is 1.9wpg enough for a planted tank? What do you have in yours?

 

[Todd2]

Well, if you're going to plant it. Get the light that you want over the plants now. No point in buying lights now than upgrading. You can even run it w/ 1 bulb if you're having algae problems. How much "wpg" you want depends on what type of plants you want to grow.

 

[Guest]

So you want it to be planted eventually?

I have had great success in my 29 planted with a 24" 36 watt Coralife CF Fixture. I was suppose to buy a 30" but it is a long story.

My tank is thriving with low-med light plants at about 1.2 WPG with no CO2 injection. At 1.2 you can have good success and I have a 6700K bulb. Make sure you do not get acintic 50/50 because it does no good for F/W plants. This is what I have. You need the one that is 6700 white, not acitic. It is about $50 at Big Als which is cheap. There are so many options for planted tanks and people will have alot of opinions. I am just telling you I have had succes with this. It gets a little hot, and does not come with an installed fan so I have one I got off Ebay installed in my canopy. Between 1.2 and 2.5 should be ok with no CO2. Anymore and you will probably need C02. I can send pics of my tank to you if you want

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...life24aqualightpowercompactstriplight1x36watt

 

[Tong]

Buy a dual light strip ($30 dollars). Make sure it uses an electronic ballast. Buy Hagen Glo bulbs ($35). Why the Hagen bulbs? They are 20 watt T8s as oppossed to normal 17 watt T8s which are rather hard to find anyway. This should get you 1.5 - 2.0 WPG. This will be enough to grow a good selection of plants down the line.

Reconsider a DIY hood though as they are pretty easy and the only real tool you need is a drill and maybe a handsaw. Okay, I can even see it being done with nothing more than a hammer. Building materials will probably run $35ish (includes all wood, ballast, endcaps). Yes this is five dollars more or so and you have to build it yourself, but you could make it pump out 6 or 7 WPG if you really wanted to.

 

[src]

Is 1.9wpg enough for a planted tank? What do you have in yours?

Well, 1.9 WPG from a compact flourescent is more than 2WPG from a normal output light (I forget the ratio), and AHSupply's reflector is _stunningly_ bright, which should boost the total light hitting the tank even more.

I don't have anything special in there right now, but I'm confident that I could grow just about any plants in the medium to medium-high category.

 

[Stretch]

Buy a dual light strip ($30 dollars). Make sure it uses an electronic ballast. Buy Hagen Glo bulbs ($35). Why the Hagen bulbs? They are 20 watt T8s as oppossed to normal 17 watt T8s which are rather hard to find anyway. This should get you 1.5 - 2.0 WPG.

Two bulbs at 20 watts comes out to 40 watts = 1.37wpg. That's not enough, is it?

 

[JustOneMore20]

Get the Coralife 30" 65w fixture...its what I have over my 29g...gives you 2.2wpg, perfect for low, medium, and some high light plants without CO2. I have Alternantha growing in my 29g great....even in medium light.

I got mine here. $58 for the fixture, plus shipping isn't too much.

Picture of my 29g....just to show you how well the lighting is:

 

[Guest]

Yes I agree. I said I was suppose to get the 30" and that is what I would recommend. I got my 24" for free and have somehow been succesful at 1.2.

 

[Stretch]

I think I might get the setup that JustOneMore20 listed. It seems like a good deal.

 

[Guest]

It is. I have always liked Coralife and have never had a problem

 

[JustOneMore20]

I have a Coralife over my 55g too and I like it. I bought the mounting legs so the fixtures would be above the glass tops. The fixtures work well for me and they aren't very expensive.

 

[Tong]

I'd go with the CF set up as well. I always forget about those because I never use them. This is just an FYI.

Two bulbs at 20 watts comes out to 40 watts = 1.37wpg. That's not enough, is it?

Numbers wise yes this is true but effectivly it is not. The WPG rule was devised using T12 bulbs. T8 bulbs are about 50% brighter for any number of watts. CF are about 45%. So 1.37 * 1.5 = ~2.0 WPG. Now if you get the 65w CF, you would be at about 65 * 1.45 / 29 = ~3.25 WPG. There are better ways to calcualte WPG, but doing it this way is adequate and simple enough to understand. Bottom line is, I think all the options mentioned will be sufficient to grow a good variety of plants.

 

[Stretch]

Thanks for the info, Tong.

I emailed Hello Lights, the don't have any in stock, but expect some in a few days. I think I'm going with their 65w CF. Thanks for the help!