New toy, new toy!!!!!

[Rose]

I got the tank and stand yesterday. Now I just need to come up with the money to get a piece of glass to put over the top and some lights. Going to set it up today and rig something up for lighting to tide me over. This could be interesting on what I end up doing. Have I mentioned I'm insane for this yet. Rose

 

[Davy Reynolds]

Nice one Rose can't wait to see the finished product 8)

 

[Rose]

I think I'm going to have to see about getting cute FTP on the puter again so I can show you what the lighting system will be like for a while. Oyi is it going to be strange. For now I'm lookin at just using the lights from the 10 which are a tad bit shorter than the new tank is long. We're lookin at 18" lights instead of 24" lights. And the plants going from 4.5w per gallon and no sun to 1.5 w per gallon with sun. Hopefully I won't kill too many of my plants off doing this. I maybe able to get some different lights (ones that fit) today if Wal-Mart has some on sale for under $10. Here's to hoping. Gotta get this thing set up so I can move in my room again. I'll try and get pics as I go along. Rose

 

[Rose]

Figuring out this lighing is so much easier if I could use compacts.  But I can't and i gotta get the wattage close to what I have now.  Can we say headache.  Grrrrr.  At best I can come up with half.  I gotta figure out how to 130w of light on this tank or close to it.  The tank uses 24" bulbs.  Hmmmmm.  Time to get real creative.  Rose

Sorry I like to think out loud. you'll probably see a lot of these over then next few days. Bewarned.

 

[Davy Reynolds]

What size is the tank rose? 8)

 

[Rose]

So if I can find a way to get 110w on my tank that would give me 3.8w p/g.  That's not to much lower than the 4.5 I have now.  plus I would have the sun light to add extra light to the tank and maybe that would ballance things out?  To get 110 I would need two 55's.  How do i get the 55's.  Compact Florescent.  To get those would be around $90 each (with shipping).  Could be more depending on where I get them and how long I want to wait to get them.  Worse case senario I put the plants in a tank with not enough lighting and the plants all die.  Won't be happy about that.  On the other hand I could get the tank all ready for the plants except for the lights and put the plants in a tank that is plant friendly (the bowfront) for now and when I get the lights I can move the plants in then.  So now that I've come to that conclusion how do I deal with the plants in the bow temperarily?  I go get some cheep clay pots to put them in.  cover them with Laterite and gravel and I'm good to go.  YES!!!!  I think I have a plan of action now.  Off to the chat room to see who's there.  Rose

TRANSLATION:
I'm going to put the plants in clay pots with some laterite and gravel and then they will go into the bow till I can get my lights for the new 30g Tiger Barb tank. Probably sometime in the next 2 months. R-

 

[Davy Reynolds]

Okay what ever Your rants are hard to make sense of :laugh:

 

[Rose]

it's a 29g.

 

[Great Lakes]

Rose. What is the wattage on the 24" bulbs. And I am assuming you are pretty handy. I may have a poor mans VHO setup for you.

 

[Rose]

The wattage for the 24's is 20w.  I have a ballast for VHO.  Just don't want to put it on a 30g tank.  Waiting to hook it up to my much larger and will be in seious need of major lighting tank.  I got the ballast for $75.

Shoot with the DIY idea.  I am handy.  Just ask the guys they keep asking if I'll build them fish huts.  Seems I'm out of a job on Adrien's though.  Oh well still got Davy's to build some day.  Rose

BTW:
Speaking of that tank I just got done putting it together and putting fish in it. I still don't have a top or lights but hey I'll figure something out. Pics will be coming when I find my camera. I didn't loose it it went on holliday. R-

 

[adeyc]

Ah the Ramblings of the criminally insane. Cheers Rose you made me feel at home again. lol
Mine still needs a lot of work. for one I've got to strip out some asbestos(safely), re wire the place, re-seal a few tanks,
give it a lick of paint here and there, get a phone line installed, put in a kettle and a fridge freezer(small size) and a cd player.( my fish seem to like Wagner). Make up a work bench, adjust some shelves, and finally line the whole thing with tinfoil so the aliens can't spy on what's going on. So if you want some work to do. lol

 

[Great Lakes]

Rose, if you go to the Marine forum, I have pinned a lighting topic to the top. Read this and you can see how it is possible to squeeze over a 100 watts out of two 24" bulbs. There have been a couple guys that have done this for their nano reefs. If it sounds sensible to you, I can probably even find the part numbers for you.