Lighting Problem

[The Duke]

I have a 31 inch wide tank. The lid and lighting unit is a write off so looking at either a clip on or an overhead. However, the clip on units all seem to be for nanos and the overhead units are £200 plus!! I have just come across a Hagen glo mat starter unit which takes 30 inch bulbs so about right for me.I would need to doctor it a bit to get it to sit on my tank but at £28 it's a good price. Am I right in saying a starter unit is something that just accommodates bulbs? Has anyone had any experience with the Hagen glomat series?

Also, what wattage would I need for a 100 litre, 31" by 16.5" tank?

 

[joshthewacko]

Have you checked out the all pond solutions luminaries?

 

[The Duke]

Hi. Yes they start at about £200!!

 

[DrRob]

I have a 31 inch wide tank.

Probably not helping, as that's a slightly unusual size. There are a few old clearseal 30 inchers kicking around (I have 2, and they're a pain to put lights on top of.

The lid and lighting unit is a write off so looking at either a clip on or an overhead. However, the clip on units all seem to be for nanos and the overhead units are £200 plus!! I have just come across a Hagen glo mat starter unit which takes 30 inch bulbs so about right for me.I would need to doctor it a bit to get it to sit on my tank but at £28 it's a good price. Am I right in saying a starter unit is something that just accommodates bulbs? Has anyone had any experience with the Hagen glomat series?

Overhead luminaires tend to the expensive, you could try multiple clip ons as the tank probably isn't too deep, assuming that that's not an unusual size as well, with the advantage of offering a dawn/dusk on timers but might look weird. Another option is to go entirely overhead if there's something above the tank that you can hang a light off, which leaves all sorts of options open so long as you can cram enough power into the fittings, along with a good glass cover or open top (depending on the tendency to jumping).

The glo mat starter is a ballast unit, it still needs something to actually hold the bulbs in. You may be thinking of the Hagen light beams, which may work for you.

Also, what wattage would I need for a 100 litre, 31" by 16.5" tank?

Ah, now that depends. You don't "need" lights at all. The fish won't care. 2x24W tubes on the tank would be around the 2 watts per gallon mark, putting you into the higher end of lighting for plants and risking algae without CO2 and ferts. Unless that's what you're aiming for.

 

[The Duke]

Hi thanks for the advice. Would a Hagen glomat ballast not hold lights? I thought they would, I was just going to make something up out of black plastic to cover the lights?

 

[The Duke]

Ok so have come across the aqua light t5 series which is a double light unit. Less than £30 and is 30 inches wide. Anyone heard of this? Sold be discountpetproducts

 

[DrRob]

Hi thanks for the advice. Would a Hagen glomat ballast not hold lights? I thought they would, I was just going to make something up out of black plastic to cover the lights?

They generally come with clips that you have to attach to something.

Ok so have come across the aqua light t5 series which is a double light unit. Less than £30 and is 30 inches wide. Anyone heard of this? Sold be discountpetproducts

Where in the world are you? They've got great prices but are in New Jersey and charge about that much to ship things to the UK.

 

[The Duke]

Haha just noticed that!! Am I right in saying the glomat series is just the bulbs integrated into some housing? Could they not simply sit across the top of the aquarium end to end?