Some Lighting Questions

[Catfish Jack]

I recently purchased a 5 gallon bucket worth of aquariumplants.com substrate for my 55gal (dimensions:30"x18"x24") and Ive always had trouble growing plants in this tank aside from amazon swords and tiger lillies. I always assumed my substrate was the problem, but I had never paid attention to my lighting. So when I checked out my single 20 watt light, I decided an upgrade was a must. Since my tank is tall rather than long, I have come to find it quit difficult finding a light which will be able to supply my plants with enough light. Im not sure what to look for as some of these lights Ive looked at seem to be made for marine set up, but the mounted over the top style is what im looking for. Will these type of light be suitable, or is there an alternative?

 

[SuperColey1]

I would go for a couple of 24" 24W T5s with an applicable 'starter' unit. That would be enough light to penetrate. you would of course also need reflectors

AC

 

[Wordy]

THese starter units, do they just replace the existing lighting you have in the hood of your tank?

 

[SuperColey1]

Yeah. You can leave the hod as it is with everything inside it. That way it is complete if you want to sell at a later date.

Then the starter unit is an external item (you can have it behind the tank or in the cabinet etc) that runs it's own end caps and then you clip these into the canopy

Like this:
http/www2.arcadia-uk.info/product.php?pi...p;sub=&id=4

AC

 

[Catfish Jack]

I found this,

<a href="http/www.aquariumplants.com/Current_USA_..._p/cur01127.htm" target="_blank">http/www.aquariumplants.com/Current_USA_..._p/cur01127.htm</a>

It seems affordable, and I can probably find it cheaper on another site if I shop around.

Would it work?

ps, my tank does not have a hood, its a glass top. thas why im going for that certain type of lighting fixture.

 

[Catfish Jack]

So I've decided to go the cheaper route and try to build my own light fixture that will be using the incandescent style flourescent bulbs. I have noticed with these energy saving bulbs that it has a "watts used" and "watts emitted". So when using this type of lighting should I go by lumens or still adhere to the watt per gallon rule.

 

[SuperColey1]

You will need twice as many W or lumens with these bulbs even with reflectors due to their shape. You can't beat a linear tube for being able to 'collect' the lost light with a reflector due to it's shape!!!

AC

 

[Catfish Jack]

Thanks for the help. I have built my light fixture which can hold 4 of these bulbs, I made it with a modified vanity light. The body of this fixture is chrome, so it reflects most the light. Tomorrow im building a housing for it from wood, or whatever material I find suitable and cheaper. I'm planning on using this kind of tape for heating vents and such that is crome also, this should help direct the light down into my aquarium. Right now I have purchased two 40w output 6500k bulbs and two 40w output 2300k bulbs. I'll post some pics when I get this thing built.