Buying New Lights...

[timmystood]

I need to buy some stronger lights for my tanks... how should I go about this?
Is there a set of standard sizes? Should I take to lighting unit into my LFS and get them to measure? Can you shorten or make longer lights from mail-order companies?

I've found some lights on some internet sites but none of them have sizes written so how do we know they will fit etc?

thanks

 

[nodding_dino]

really you just need to take a close look at what space you have under your current hood. You should be ale to work out which length tube will fit...you may need an extra ballast to run any additional tubes though, so add the cost of this into your sums!

 

[timmystood]

The unit itself measures 19 cm (the light itself it about 18cm) - this equates to 7inches... I cannot find lights anywhere that go this small, they all start from 12inches.

 

[Themuleous]

Hi timmystood,

T8 lighting is all pretty standard and it matches the size of you're tank. The way to work out the light tube size is to measure the tank and deduct 6inces. This is generally the size of tube you need and will have a corresponing wattage.

Tank length....................Tube lenght.....................Wattage

24"..................................18"................................15
30".................................24" .................................18
36".................................30".................................25

Once you've got this all you need to do is get the right starter unit, i.e. 18w tube needs a 18w starter. Its pretty much that simple. T5's are a whole different ball game and something I know very little about.

How big is the tank you want the new lighting for?

Hope this helps

Sam

EDIT I have a light tube that is 9" long but plant tube dont go nearly this small and few shops seem to sell tube below 12"

 

[Jen]

How long is your tank? If the light unit itself is only 19cm, but the tank is longer, then you might be able to build a new hood and get a larger light, depending on your skills as a builder.