Lighting

[Bruce_Edinburgh]

Fish tank (60*30 cm) been stable for 2 years but now fluorescent lighting unit gone and it is not the starter or the tube.

Am I best to move to LED lights or stick with fluorescent lights? I use natural plants so light must suit their growth .

Rleated problem. Lid of tank has rectangular section at back and then a hinged lid that slopes down to the fron and rests on two longglass ledges. The sloping lid has no attachment points. Where can I source a different lid?

Recommendation on lighting ( number tubes, W ) and spectrum to use are sought

 

[StevenF]

LEDs can be used for plants. All white lEDs with a color temperature 5000K and a CRI of at least 80 will work well for your tank. Look at your old lamp and look for a label with color temperature and lumens ratings. With the specs of the old bulb you
can look for a manufacture Led lamp to match it.

I decided to make my own. The lInk below is for LED light strips I used on my aquarium lid. The CRI >93 I higher than needed but i wanted t colors of the fish to stand out as much as possible. Unfortunately I did pay ore for the high CRI and brightness of the strip. You can get low cost LEDs but make sure the LEds you buy have a CRI rating, lumens per foot (brightness) and watts per foot rating.
https://www.flexfireleds.com/categories/LED-Flexible-strips/high-cri-led-strip-lights/

I then went to Tap Plastic that sells acrylic cheers, glues and epoxy for do it yourself people or will make something for you. In there scrap or small leftover rack I found a 1/4" thick clear acrylic sheet that would fit the top of my aquarium. I then trimmed the sheet to fit my aquarium, added a slot of the filter pump and heater power cables and a hold for the automatic fish feeder.

I then purchased a aluminum sheet and trimmed it to fit the top of the newly made lid. I attached the LEDs to the aluminum wired them together and then attache the aluminum with LEDs to the lid using spacers to insure the LEDs wouldn't get crushed. The Acrylic also keeps the LEDs dry. The aluminum is 30 square inches in size and has 30 watts of LEDs attached. If the dimmer is at full power is does get very warm but not enough to require heat sinks or fans. So as long as your keep the power less than 2 watts per square inch the aluminum will provide all the needed cooling.

The lamp is strong enough for a high tech CO2 tank if I decide to go that way. Right now I have a low tech tank setup and I have set the dimmer to 40%. The acrylic and aluminum, and 12V power supply for the LEDs cost about $30. Most of my money went into the LEDs.

 

[Byron]

Steven covered the LED aspect. You tank seems to be a standard 20g (60X30cm, 24X12 inches) so it might be possible to find a new hood. You could use T8 fluorescent (I would not go with T5 it will be much too intense here), single tube. Or a two-bulb old-type incandescent fixture and use two CFL 9w 6500K bulbs. I have this over my 20g and 10g tanks and the plants thrive. I used to have a single T8 tube over a 10g, that worked too.

Or you could maybe find a fixture, either of the afore-mentioned, to fit your existing hood. Or another option, go to a glass cover with the light fixture separate. I have this on my larger tanks.

And, welcome to TFF.

Byron.