Lighting little confused..

[PaulieFish]

Was planning on getting..

FLORA-GLO Fluorescent Bulbs by Hagen - Lighting & Hoods - Fish - PetSmart

but the 24" is only 20watts.. would it be better (and cheaper) to just go get a fluorescent tube light that is 24" and outputs around a ~100w? I have a 45g tank, thats 36" long..

I need to upgrade my lighting (currently 24" 17w) and I dont want to go waste 20 bucks on the wrong lighting.

Thanks,

Paul

 

[mgamer20o0]

well first of all no need to spend $20 on a bulb. the t12 bulbs you can go to home depot and get for a couple bucks. just look for the daylight bulbs.

the other part to your question is you cant just pop in a higher watt bulb. the only way to get more light is to retrofit your old one or get a new fixture. you can gut the old hood and put a cf retrofit kit from ahsupply.com or put in cfl bulbs. the other option is to get a new fixture for example t5 ho from fishneedit.com.

what would you like to grow in your tank?