Getting a 65g, please explain power compact lighting?

[draX]

Hey all

I am getting a 65g next week...the tank is a little shorter than 48", so I would be forced to get normal 36" flourescent bulbs. The only 36" bulbs/ballasts I can get max at 30W, so I would have to get four to attain my 2wpg mark. I have read about PC lighting, but still don't quite understand it. I live in South Africa, so I can't go to all the shops mentioned in this forum. Would I go to a normal home lighting shop? Are the light controllers waterproof? How do I mount them? If anyone can give me model numbers for standard ones eg Philips, that would be great...

As a side note, I want to put sand in this tank (I have only ever used gravel)...I would like black or brown or grey sand, but have not found anything like that. I can't get eco-complete or flourite or laterite in this country. Does anyone know any other alternatives? Also, how do I get the sand to not flow up the filter tube? The filtration will be an Aquaclear to start off with, and a canister filter coming later.

Sorry for the long post!

[penpitt]

You might want to check with your lps/lfs to see if they carry any pc lights. If not you might want to ask about special orders.I googled to try and get some lps/lfs to see if they have websites. I found 2-Aqua World in Cape Town(Fish Hoek?) and Petland in Springfield, Durban and one in Umhlanga, Durban.
In the states here the brands most available to us are Coralife,All-Glass,JBJ, and orbit/Current.
Heres a website that give you some brands:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/...tegory_id=1875

A pc designed for the aquarium can withstand the higher hunidity.As for others I wouldn't know.
Sorry I dont know any other alternatives other than putting in some root tabs.
As for the sand the finer particles will stay suspended for a day or two. Just put some pantyhose over your filter intake during that time.What type of fish do you plan on keeping? Cichlids would tend to dig around and may kick up more sand than other fish.Hope that helps---hard to shop in South Africa from Arizona.lol

[loganj]

PC bulbs are very much like NO bulbs in that they will run on any electronic ballast with the correct wattage. They are much more intense than NO bulbs. I don't know of a source for PC's that are not intended for aquarium use. Unless there are restrictions on importing these products into South Africa, you should be able to order any aquarium fixture that is available here in the US and have it shipped to you. Surface shipping, although it's slow, isn't terribly expensive as long as the box isn't too large. I have shipped to Australia, Russia, and Japan using the US Postal Service with good results. Will your 65g have a canopy? If so, you could use PC retro kits and install them into your canopy. Either a 4x28w or a 2x65w setup should put you close to your target of 2wpg. What is household voltage in SA? 110v or 220v? If it's 220v, that may limit your choices a bit.

[draX]

Penpitt: Have checked all LFS that I can find, none of them stock PC lights. Don't know what I'm going to stock the tank with yet, still deciding. I haven't kept cichlids before, but I'm keen to try.

Household voltage in SA is 220V, so ordering from US is a bit problematic...Will be building a hood for my tank, I hate the standard ones.

Thanks for all you help guys!

[loganj]

You won't need PC's for a cichlid tank unless you are going to try planting it. Regular fluorescent bulbs will be fine. I'm pretty sure getting PC ballasts in 220v won't be any problem though if you decide to go that route.

[draX]

I am definitely going to plant it, want this tank to be more of a plant learning curve than a fish one. Maybe some angels, and a school of tetra's or harlequins...
So let me make sure I'm getting this right...you can use any ballast for PC lights, it's only the bulb that is special?

[malkore]

any ELECTRONIC ballast. magnetic ballasts won't even make the bulb flicker.

And you need to make sure the output of hte electronic ballast is in 96watt increments. If it's less than 96watts, it won't fire up your bulb.

[loganj]

If you can get Sylvania ballasts there, the Quicktronic 4x32 will light one 96w bulb. Getting the ballasts in 96w increments assumes that you will be using 96w bulbs which are 34-36" long. If, for instance, you were to use 65w bulbs, the 4x32 ballast would light two of them. 96w bulbs would probably be the logical choice for your tank though. I can get you some wiring diagrams once you decide what you want to use.

[draX]

I think the 65W bulbs would be good, then I can put two in and sit just over 2wpg, and hopefully won't need co2 (not ready for that yet!)
Thanks for all the help guys. Will post if I find anywhere that sells.