Could Someone Help Me, Im Totaly Stuck!

[Burningstorm]

Sorry to be a pain, But i have a tank with is not connected to my hood (but hood sits on top). But when i was doing my water change today, I notice that it said "IIIumination: 15wx1" on the light. So im guessing that i have a pretty poor light for a 120l tank? could someone confirm this?
Also, If it is poor, could someone suggest a decent light in which i could buy to replace this, maybe giving me some ideas how to install it safely

Before i forget, The reason i am worried about this, is because when im trying to get some sleep, I hear like banging nosies coming from my tank, every 5-10secs. It does it all the time, when my lights not on, Could someone PLEASE have any ideas whats wrong?


Really, thanks for the help, im dying to get some sleep!

 

[Davo86]

Hi, do you have live plants in the tank ?? if not the bulbs should be ok and only really needs to be turned on when your around the tank as it is purely for your benefit and not the fishes.
How long is the light currently left on for? the noise is possibly from the bulb cooling

 

[Burningstorm]

Hi, do you have live plants in the tank ?? if not the bulbs should be ok and only really needs to be turned on when your around the tank as it is purely for your benefit and not the fishes.
How long is the light currently left on for? the noise is possibly from the bulb cooling

Hi thanks for the reply. Yes i do have live plants in there. My lighting is left on about 10 hours aday, maybe i need to cut down on it abit.
What would you suggest a decent new light? and also are all lights the same measurements?

 

[Davo86]

ok, if you have live plants then really the lighting does need to stay on

I'm pretty sure the 15wx1" part means the bulb is 15watts and is 1inch diameter?
In my 4 foot tank i use 2 x 38W arcadia bulbs and i have also needed to add reflectors in order to keep my plants from dying.

 

[Burningstorm]

ok, if you have live plants then really the lighting does need to stay on

I'm pretty sure the 15wx1" part means the bulb is 15watts and is 1inch diameter?
In my 4 foot tank i use 2 x 38W arcadia bulbs and i have also needed to add reflectors in order to keep my plants from dying.

Your have to speak more noobish, because i dont know anything about lighting. Am i right in thinking that the reflectors are above the light which reflects the light into the water? if so, i have one of those of my light
Do you think its worth upgrading my lighting system? If so what too? And How can i install it? (bad at DIY)

 

[Davo86]

yes reflectors reflect the upward light back down into the tank.
what are the dimensions of the tank? do you know the make/model?

I just found this quote which helps
"In general, you will need 2 watts for every gallon of water in your tank if you have plants with low light requirements. If you have dense plant life with high light requirements, you will need about 5 watts per gallon"

so for a 120litre tank you will need at least 60w so 2 x 30w bulbs

Something like an arcadia controller and 2 x 30w 750mm bulbs would be sufficient if the tank was say 1 meter long

 

[Burningstorm]

yes reflectors reflect the upward light back down into the tank.
what are the dimensions of the tank? do you know the make/model?

Thanks
Yes, Its
80cm length
29.6cm wide
54cm height

(Size: 80X29.6X54CM
31.5" x 11.7" x 21.3")

And Im not sure what the model is. The picture where i bought it says Jinlong or jiolong (very hard to read) and when it come the design was "Beta Aquarium" So cant help you on that one as im unsure
Hope this helps

 

[Davo86]

ok for 80cm tank you could go with 2 x 18w 600mm bulbs with the fititngs for the controller screwed into the underside of the hood

arcadia controllers

 

[Burningstorm]

ok for 80cm tank you could go with 2 x 18w 600mm bulbs with the fititngs for the controller screwed into the underside of the hood

arcadia controllers

Thanks for the help. When you say fittings for the controller screwed into the underside of the hood, What exactly do you mean? Because where my light is at the moment, doesnt look like i could fit anymore near it. Will it mean i will have to remove that light and install the 2 new ones?
(sorry to sound noobish)

 

[Davo86]

yep you'll most likely have to unscrew the existing one, and fix in the four bulb attachements
unless you don't mind not having a hood in which case you could opt for an overtank light

 

[Burningstorm]

yep you'll most likely have to unscrew the existing one, and fix in the four bulb attachements
unless you don't mind not having a hood in which case you could opt for an overtank light

That will be a problem, considering my filter is in my hood (far back)
Can i confirm that arcadia controller are powered by normal plugs because i have been looking, and it looks like some are powers by shaving plugs (not sure the correct name)

This sounds like it could get messy as i will have to drain all the water from the hood, I guess its worth it though.
Im slightly confused with My lighting to be frank. I have just looked and there doesn't seem to be any signs of wiring, It seems stuck on with some sort of glue if im not mistaken. And i guessing the middle part is the fuse for the lighting, yet i cant see any wires or nothing, That sound alright?

 

[Burningstorm]

I have been thinking, and i am really sorry about keeping on, But since my lighting at the moment is
IIIumination: 15wx1
Is there such lighting out there which is like
IIIumination: 40wx1

Or just in general higher power but same 1inch thickness? or would the only way be the hard way?

Also am i right in thinking that (for example) Illumination: 30Wx3 will not be able to fit in the place where my current lighting is at the moment (15wx1) Or am i totally wrong?


I have just took my lighting out, And measured it and it measures 57cm or 22inc. Does this mean if i want to replace this i will need to find a bulb which is the same measurements?

 

[Davo86]

If everything is built into the hood then I guess this is going to be quite tricky to sort out. Just had a google and i think i've found your tank and it looks like the x1 doesn't refer to the diameter of the bulb but to the quantity of the bulbs in the hood, i.e. theres just one, - it may be worth re-posing this in the DIY area of the forum as people there may have more experience with this type of problem

In most cases the higher the wattage the longer the bulb (shown here) and so this will not fit your current hood attachments, Also the controller may not be able to work with a higher wattage bulb
There is also generally two thicknesses of bulb used about 1/2 an inch and 1 inch.


edit: UK controllers do come fitted with standard UK plugs
if it is glued and there are no wires etc then the job is made even harder, My Juwel lighting is built like that and when it went wrong i was forced to replace the whole unit.

 

[Burningstorm]

If everything is built into the hood then I guess this is going to be quite tricky to sort out. Just had a google and i think i've found your tank and it looks like the x1 doesn't refer to the diameter of the bulb but to the quantity of the bulbs in the hood, i.e. theres just one, - it may be worth re-posing this in the DIY area of the forum as people there may have more experience with this type of problem

In most cases the higher the wattage the longer the bulb (shown here) and so this will not fit your current hood attachments, Also the controller may not be able to work with a higher wattage bulb
There is also generally two thicknesses of bulb used about 1/2 an inch and 1 inch.


edit: UK controllers do come fitted with standard UK plugs
if it is glued and there are no wires etc then the job is made even harder, My Juwel lighting is built like that and when it went wrong i was forced to replace the whole unit.

Well what i mean, It isnt stuck stuck. I mean you can take the bulb out easy, but what i mean what is stuck is the Handles kind of thing which the bulb fits into. If it will help i could send you the link where i got it from in a PM rather than public. And yes you are correct, that is my tank

 

[Davo86]

Well what i mean, It isnt stuck stuck. I mean you can take the bulb out easy, but what i mean what is stuck is the Handles kind of thing which the bulb fits into. If it will help i could send you the link where i got it from in a PM rather than public. And yes you are correct, that is my tank

yep feel free to