What lights are you using on your 40B?

[hpiguy]

Or any other 3 foot tank.

I've been trying to find a 36" shop light and of course, the most common 48" is all I can find.

I may just have to get a twintube light from Marineland, but usually their 36" lights have 24" bulbs in them which I don't want.

Any ideas?

 

[bkiggy]

T5 plant light 6500k for 10 hours made by coral life about 165/200 bucks

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Are you going to keep fish only or are you planning to go planted?

Edit: didn't realize this is in they planted section.. Are you going for low tech low light plants or planning on co2 injection with moderate to high light plants?

 

[hpiguy]

Are you going to keep fish only or are you planning to go planted?

Edit: didn't realize this is in they planted section.. Are you going for low tech low light plants or planning on co2 injection with moderate to high light plants?

Good question, I should have clarified. This will be a non-CO2 tank.

Being a shorter tank I should get by with moderate light requirements from the plants since with substrate counted in on the 40B, it only has to penetrate about 14 inches.

Plant stock hasn't been decided yet. It will not be extremely heavily planted. I know for sure that in this design I'm picturing, Java Moss will be used quite a bit in the tank with the theme. Spiral val as well and some smaller swords too.

 

[hpiguy]

DFS is saying these double bulb 36" fixtures actually have 36" bulbs, which is different than what I've seen before. What sucks is, I'll likely have to swap both bulbs right away.

Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Marineland Fluorescent Lights

I like these, and the 36" is barely more than the Marineland unit, and it already has OK bulbs in it. But I keep thinking it will have too much light and like I said, I don't want to get into CO2. Anyone have experience with this brand personally?

Could I possibly run the shorter 30" fixture for light that's not as intense?

Aquarium Lighting T5 Fluorescent Light Fixture: AquaticLife T5 HO Dual Lamp Light Fixtures

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Have you considered LED fixtures? I have to admit that I'm a little biased towards them since I'm getting awesome growth with an LED fixture on my 6g project. But there's an LED fixture that puts out medium lighting that I've seen others use with good results in non-co2 applications. Not only do these LED use less power, the bulbs never need replacement.

Check out this 36" daylight fixture with moonlights..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009IRJHZK?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1&ref_=aw_bottom_links

Otherwise, if you wanna go traditional lighting, I'd just get a T5NO. I think Aqueon makes a decent one. You can also check out Catalina Lighting as well.

 

[hpiguy]

Haven't looked at LED since reading this site, people say they don't have the quality yet to be good plant lights. I've seen your thread, I'll have to look at them again.

I didn't even now Aqueon made light fixtures other than their regular hoods. I found their T5 models on the Petsmart site. Nicely priced, only $80 for a 36" with good bulbs included.

That won't be excessive light for a 40B non high tech?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Haven't looked at LED since reading this site, people say they don't have the quality yet to be good plant lights. I've seen your thread, I'll have to look at them again.

I didn't even now Aqueon made light fixtures other than their regular hoods. I found their T5 models on the Petsmart site. Nicely priced, only $80 for a 36" with good bulbs included.

That won't be excessive light for a 40B non high tech?

Haven't seen em. If it's a single 36" T5HO bulb it should be just right. If it's double you could still get away with it if you have lots of plants and something like Excell. If it's a double T5NO it would be ideal for a non co2 tank.

I think the LED fixture posted by Brian is the best option. Lots of people, including me, use LED for plants.

 

[hpiguy]

Haven't seen em. If it's a single 36" T5HO bulb it should be just right. If it's double you could still get away with it if you have lots of plants and something like Excell. If it's a double T5NO it would be ideal for a non co2 tank.

I think the LED fixture posted by Brian is the best option. Lots of people, including me, use LED for plants.

A single T5HO, Hmmm, never thought of that.

I have a coupon from Petco that gives me 20% off any ZooMed product. They have them in issues of TFH.

They have this T5HO light that allows you to use each bulb individually. Maybe I'll just do that and then if I ever go CO2, I can add the second bulb and be set.

Zoo Med AquaSun T-5 HO Double Light Linear Fluorescent Hood at PETCO

 

[billsey420]

A single T5HO, Hmmm, never thought of that.

I have a coupon from Petco that gives me 20% off any ZooMed product. They have them in issues of TFH.

They have this T5HO light that allows you to use each bulb individually. Maybe I'll just do that and then if I ever go CO2, I can add the second bulb and be set.

Zoo Med AquaSun T-5 HO Double Light Linear Fluorescent Hood at PETCO

You could always alternate between which bulb you have on so your bulbs will last longer.

 

[phishfriend]

I saw 30 or 36" T5 2 bulb fixtures 120w at home depot for like 30 buck. i was planning on using one and just doing a DIY hood.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I saw 30 or 36" T5 2 bulb fixtures 120w at home depot for like 30 buck. i was planning on using one and just doing a DIY hood.

Lots of people have that kind of setup. Nothing wrong with it as long as you make sure it's safe with water. If you have Home Depot cut out a thin acrylic splash guard it would be a start. Plant or hydroponic light fixtures sometimes have better endcaps in them because they are designed to work in damp places. As long as you're careful to protect the light from water.

 

[phishfriend]

Lots of people have that kind of setup. Nothing wrong with it as long as you make sure it's safe with water. If you have Home Depot cut out a thin acrylic splash guard it would be a start. Plant or hydroponic light fixtures sometimes have better endcaps in them because they are designed to work in damp places. As long as you're careful to protect the light from water.

+1 to corallinealgae

I was planning on having a standard glass top on the tank then the light for just that reason. I'm guessing I will have to deal with algae on the glass but I will have less water evaporation.

I really like the splash guard idea a lot! I could incorporate it in to the hood and not have the glass top. Would have to deal with evaporation but not the algae.

Thanks for the tip!! I think that's the way to go!!!

 

[jetajockey]

One thing to keep in mind is the width of the 40b means a standard 2 bulb fixture doesn't give very good front to back coverage. Solutions to it are getting a wider fixture (catalina makes one by request) or raising the fixture up a few inches.(This would help with the "too much light" scenario)