Grow Lights

[Capt.Gorilla]

I was at a local Canadian tire store today and noticed some 25" grow lights, I bought one mounted it on the wall about 15" above my tank and made a makeshift shade so it doesn't blind me.
It lights the tank well and though the cover (made of 1 use bread pans, I know totally ghetto) looks kinda ugly if I flatten it out and paint it it'll probably look nice besides it was only $17 all together.

Well to the main question which I probably should have asked b4 buying it is is a "33 watt fluoresant plant light" alright for aquaruim use?

Edit: would this also be enough to have any live plants?

 

[loganj]

33 watts? That's an odd one for sure. Plant AKA grow lights are usually heavy in red which may stimulate algae growth. AFAIK, aquatic plants aren't too picky about the spectrum of the light they receive. The info about grow lights accelerating algae growth is something I have read and not based on personal experience so you might want to research it some more before making a decision regarding them.

I think 33 watts is going to be a little below the needed amount to most plants although some of the low light plants would probably do OK under it.

 

[jsoong]

I used the same thing for my 10 gal, although I mounted it about 3" above the water. My hornwort is growing like weeds with this setup (and pearling whenever light is on), although I haven't added more demanding plants yet.

If you are using the 33 watts for 45 gal however, that might not be enough light. You'll prob need at least 2 watts per gal - 3 or 4 would be better. You can of cause just add 2 or 3 more lights mounted overhead.

 

[justDIY]

i use a GE plant and aquarium 'grow light' along with a GE spec 50 (daylight) bulb on a 10 gallon tank... it had a bit of a go with some black hair algae, but it's gone now, the light is pretty dim compared to my other tanks, so the growth is not what I'd called "rapid", but things seem to be doing well

fyi both bulbs are 15 watts, and are just laying on a piece of glass that covers the tank - I put a sheet of foil on top the lights to help keep the light from going all over the room

 

[Capt.Gorilla]

My tank doesn't have any plants in it at the moment, so i'm thinking that maybe now I could add a small low light plant, I've heard java moss is good for low light.

 

[cdawson]

You can basically add any plant that you want, the strip I have on my 10g which is a GE grow strip is of a red spectrum and I've had good luck growing crypts, echidnodurus, hygrophilia, bacopa and indian fern. I haven't even added co2 yet. You may not get the results you'd get with a compact flourescent strip, but it's definately affordable as you pay for the bulb and the fixture comes with it.