pics of planted tank lighting system

[ct67_72]

Im just trying to get an idea of what you guys are doing for lighting on your planted tank. recommendations and pics would be great. Thanks! Dan

 

[nitrous]

well mine was small in lenght, only 24 inches, so i bought a cheap 2 bulb shop light fixture for around 14 bucks and bought 2 cheap 7 dollar bulbs and got a total of 48 watts for around 28 dollars,

 

[ct67_72]

what did yo uuse for a hood, or tank cover?

 

[nitrous]

the light it protected by a plastic cover it came with so nothing really

 

[Japola44]

you can get like 10 dollar glass hoods from almost all petstores...they dont always fit, so you have to buy from the company that made your tank.

I have a shop light on my 55gal 48" 2 T12 bulbs only 12 bucks for the light strip
my new 50gal has a cora life 48" 2 65watt CF $124 for bulbs light stand and shipping. Not a bad deal. It has a protective acryllic cover on it.

 

[mr funktastic]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=75738&highlight=
that is your best bet for the most bang for your buck. i built it is less than 2 hours once i had the proper stuff. the ballast was cheap and was incredibly easy to do and man is it ever bright!!

 

[ct67_72]

yeah that looks good. what did you do for tank cover or was that it. I have some fish that seem to like to jump, and Im afraid of the shrimp coming out, so I need to keep it covered.
maybe I will get a glass hood and do something similar. cost wise you cant beat that. and what type of aquaruim bulbs are available to give me the wattage needed? I dont recal seeing straight pin bulbs over 20w. and I think I would like to stay to a 2 light maximum.

 

[malkore]

power compact bulbs give you more output per watt, but are more expensive units...both due to bulb and ballast needed to run the bulb.

the lighting sticky at the top of the forum really covers all the fundamentals.