lighting and price...?

[e burna]

I'm wondering how much lighting costs for a 29 gallon tank for good plants? Also, where would you get the lighting. It seems whatever I try it doesn't work, lol. I'm just asking, what lights, where do u get them, and how much? Thanks for reading.

 

[krap101]

i got a 110 watt one today for 50$. id get like a 65-100 watts.

 

[greenmaji]

If you get more than 60 or so watts you would be in CO2 territory...

You will need at least 30-45 watts.. but under 65 if you dont want to do CO2..

Check the sticky about lighting at the top of the plant area page..
The most common mistake one..

 

[e burna]

Where do I get these 65 watt, or even 35 or 45 watt bulbs and do I need a new fixture to run a bulb like this? (I have the hood that comes w/the tank, as well as another hood that I bought at petsmart for $40 that's just like the one that was w/the tank almost, but *slightly* (like 2 inches maybe) longer, but takes the same bulb.

 

[Guest]

Where do I get these 65 watt, or even 35 or 45 watt bulbs and do I need a new fixture to run a bulb like this? (I have the hood that comes w/the tank, as well as another hood that I bought at petsmart for $40 that's just like the one that was w/the tank almost, but *slightly* (like 2 inches maybe) longer, but takes the same bulb.

Yeah, you need a new hood to run higher watt lights. You can get them a ton of places online (i.e. Ebay, BigAls).

 

[FMJnaX]

This may be a stupid question, but how do you determine if a hood can run higher wattages on BigAl's? I'm looking at the Fluorescent Strip Lights and the only 30" ones they have (for the 29 gal) is the All-Glass Aquarium twin and single. I've currently got the single hood and I ordered the twin last week. Neither of them state what kind of wattage they can take.

Am I looking in the wrong location?

 

[Guest]

They are going to take the same wattage bulb in your current one, probably a 20 watt. Look on the bulb and it should say. The double would put you a over 1 wpg, so it should be fine for low light plants. You could always get brighter bulbs too, but they would be the same wattage.

 

[FMJnaX]

I'm not wanting to go big league, just stay low/mid-light. I bought the twin strip because:

1) I didn't feel like crafting a new hood and hearing the wife grip every step along the way
2) I have no idea how to find a 30" hood that will take more than a 20W bulb.
3) 40W puts me at about 1.4WPG, which is pretty much where I want to be.

I'm still trying to find the 30" hood/ballast that will take more than a 20W bulb. Only thing I saw on E-Bay was a 30" power compact for $80 + shipping. 8O

 

[krap101]

i bought mine yesterday offa ebey for 50$ (71$ Canadian [from canada) it comes with 2 55 watt bulbs, 1 actinic and 1 12000 daylight

 

[Guest]

I'm still trying to find the 30" hood/ballast that will take more than a 20W bulb. Only thing I saw on E-Bay was a 30" power compact for $80 + shipping. 8O

Yeah, thats about right. If thats too much, just stick with the double strip.

 

[krap101]

for 80$ you could get a single strip satellite (sunpaq)

 

[malkore]

I'm still trying to find the 30" hood/ballast that will take more than a 20W bulb. Only thing I saw on E-Bay was a 30" power compact for $80 + shipping. 8O

You won't. With normal output fluorescents, every 12" of bulb is 10watts. That's how they are designed to function, so the ballasts always put out the right number of watts. What you'd need to do is purchase an appropriate electronic ballast that puts out more wattage than the 'default' amount. This is called Over Driven Normal Output or ODNO lighting. You run 4x the normal wattage into the bulbs, so they burn twice as bright. They also burn out twice as fast, needing replacement around 6-9months on average.

I've never done this, so I can't be real specific about the setup.

 

[greenmaji]

I think that Steve might be the only member running ODNO right now and his setup is like 5 wpg! LOL. by the way his has been running since late 2002 I belive and he is still running it..
The best thread on this subject Ive been able to find is listed below.. different forum..
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=175&page=1&pp=15

 

[krap101]

i thought that u were 2 greenie

 

[e burna]

I paid $40 for a single hood at the local petstore, and $20 for a glass flip top lid. Did I get screwed?

 

[krap101]

single bulb or single like 1 hood? for a 29 gallon tank thats how much i paid for my glass hood.

thats a good deal if its a good light, but non of my lfs's sell any good lights and they jack up the prices

 

[greenmaji]

i thought that u were 2 greenie

Ive just been looking into it..

And the reason I said steves setup was like 5wpg is that he is ODing 3 bulbs over his 75.. if you only OD one bulb you would have a third of that in most setups.. like 1.7 wpg... I think thats about what alot of people are after..

 

[greenmaji]

Oh and by the way you can OD at different levels for different outputs..

2X- +50%
3X- +75%
4X- +100%

at 4X the lumens go up to the equivalent of about 125 watts of light from 32wattT-8 bulbs.. the actually lumens gained from overdriving 4X is more like 3.9X they are not all that inefficient after reading it a while..

 

[FMJnaX]

I know what I'm going to try this weekend...

Thanks!

 

[greenmaji]

Ill give you the bes link Ive found for cheap prices on the ballasts needed to do this..
http://www.prolighting.com/index.html
though the lowes in town here has a sylvania brand one for 29 bucks.. online you can get a bigger one for not much more but I dont think you need it for your application there FMjnaX. the price for the ballast online is about 25 dollars.
You should be able to find them locally pretty easy since you live in a pretty big city..
Im stoked that your wanting to try this actually!!!