Light Upgrade Questions

[meegosh]

Hey all,

I am wanting to upgrade the lighting in my 30g long. The corners of the tank are dark and when the room lights are on the tank looks dark. Right now it has a 24" bulb in a 36" hood. I imagine this is a big part of the problem.

My question is, should I make a canopy and wire up my own lights? Or should I just buy a dual 36" bulb hood(~$170)? I'm not really that interested in going planted, if upgrading cheaply allows me to do that then great. I just want the tank to be brighter the whole length of the tank.

I'm good at wood working (my stand is still standing, LOL) and my dad is an electrical engineer so we can do it easily if DIY is the best route.

Any thoughts are welcomed. Thanks in advance!

 

[vxsxh20]

DIY is the way to go if you can source the parts you need. How ever a single 36" strip from perfecto would make a ver big difference once you get the light to extend to the sides of the tank. What kind ofbulb are you using at this time? If the light you have now has enough room to fit a 36" bulb Id really consider just retrofitting. Good Luck

 

[meegosh]

I reviewed the light I am using, link below.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=266

It is the all glass/aqueon "deluxe" hood. It has a single 25w 24" bulb. I was wondering about retrofitting, glad you brought it up. Do you think this would be possible? How about 2x36" bulbs? I can take pictures tonight if needed.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[meegosh]

Well I have opted to go for a prebuilt fixture since I'm rather confused about lighting in general...too many options and I'm not sure what I really NEED. I have a few questions:

1.) What range of lighting would I be in with this light over a 30g long (2x30w):
Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Perfecto Fluorescent Double-Bulb Strip Lights

2.) Do you think that is a reasonable price? big als has it for $79.99.

3.) Should I get some Flourish or something similar or would CO2 be more beneficial with this lighting level?

Thanks in advance!

 

[fort384]

I can't tell if those are T8 or T12. Either way, you will be at low to medium low light. With those lights, you can probably get by with no CO2, and little to no fert. Seems really expensive for 2 T8 or T12 bulbs though. You could get a T5HO or PC fixture for just a few dollars more. Of course it you want to keep it low tech (which it sounds like you do), the t8 and t12s will work -- but you can buy a couple of fixtures from your LHS or home depot / lowes for probably less than half that cost, and just either build or retrofit them into a hood.

 

[meegosh]

I'm basically looking to brighten my tank up and possibly grow some low light / little maintenance plants. The main thing is lighting the tank up the whole way. My current light is only a 24" bulb and the corners of my tank are dark.

I looked on lowes and homedepot but I'm not sure what I need so I figured something pre-built would be easier since I am clueless. Also, if I get a strip light from lowes or home depot, don't I need different bulbs to grow palnts (more $$$) and then I need to make it fit and look nice (more money). I just see this adding up to nearly the same cost and it doesn't look as nice as a pre assembled hood. Am I wrong?

 

[meegosh]

I guess I'm just not sure what to look for... any help would be appreciated.

How about these:
1.) Aquarium Lighting for Planted & Reef Aquariums: Hagen GLO T5 HO Linear Fluorescent Fixtures

2.) Coralife F/W T-5 Aqualight Double Strip Light-36

3.) Coralife Freshwater Aqualight- 36

 

[fort384]

I'm basically looking to brighten my tank up and possibly grow some low light / little maintenance plants. The main thing is lighting the tank up the whole way. My current light is only a 24" bulb and the corners of my tank are dark.

I looked on lowes and homedepot but I'm not sure what I need so I figured something pre-built would be easier since I am clueless. Also, if I get a strip light from lowes or home depot, don't I need different bulbs to grow palnts (more $$$) and then I need to make it fit and look nice (more money). I just see this adding up to nearly the same cost and it doesn't look as nice as a pre assembled hood. Am I wrong?

You can find some good 10K bulbs for cheap at home depot, which would be fine for a planted tank. But, if you have the money to spend, a ready to go hood will be much easier.

 

[jsoong]

If you can move the lamp holders out to 36", you can upgrade the ballast to run a 36" bulb in the current fixture. <If you are lucky & have an electronic ballast of the correct load rating, you might even be able to use the existing ballast.> This is prob. your cheapest route.

A retrofit kit <people have good reviews of ones from AH supplies> would be the easiest way to get into the brighter PC fixture. However, your canopy looks very narrow, & it might not be possible to find anything that will fit.

To grow easy low light plants & have a bright tank, you want to have about 50-60W or so of light over that tank. Note that this is using T12 NO florescent. Because of the higher efficiency of the other bulbs, you can get the same light using 40W of T8, or 35W of T5 HO or Power compact. <A PC light is just a T5 bent in half.>

The T5-HO is considered the best at this point <higher efficiency reflector due to its linear shape>, but also the priciest. you might be able to find a T5-HO retrofit kit to fit your canopy. A PC is also good, esp. if you are not into high light plants, and generally costs 25-50% less.

The most economical would be to DIY a canopy & light. Get a T8 shoplight with an electronic ballast <Got mine for $15>. Then gut it. Place the lamp holders at 36", and use full spectrum T8 bulbs. Because the electronic ballast is load sensing, it will work with the lower wattage 36" bulbs <make sure to read/check the ballast before you disassemble the fixture so you can return it if it doesn't work out!>, even though it is designed for 48" tubes.