Thinking About A Lighting Upgrade.......

[Chri$]

I am thinking about upgrading the lighting on my 20ukg.

I have been looking at Arcadia Overtank Luminaires this would give me either 25w or 50w (thats if the lights have independant switches). So i could get around 2wpg. Would co2 injection be a neccesery (sp) if these lighting levels were acheived?

The only downside to these luminaires is the price

If i just keep my current setup (it would be a lot cheaper) it will be running at 0.8wpg, would i be struggling here?

Thanks

 

[juicebox]

yes, you'll need co2 injections or else you'll most likely run into algae problems.

with .8 wpg you'd be struggling with all but the very least demanding plants. it'd be best to upgrade.

 

[pseud]

Yeah, and with a 20 gallon tank you can easily get away with DIY CO2.

 

[madcaow]

im looking at upgrading too. at the mo im getting like .5 wpg

do these things look ok???

http/cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...mMakeTrack=true

not a bad price if its all good.

 

[netcode]

im looking at upgrading too. at the mo im getting like .5 wpg

do these things look ok???

http/cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...mMakeTrack=true

not a bad price if its all good.

looks ok but thats awful expensive. You could do something much cheaper on your own.

 

[madcaow]

for real? crikey i thought that seemed cheap! haha.

*off to the DIY forum*

 

[netcode]

fluro parts are so cheap its rediculas. head over to your local hardware store and check out the prices on parts to wire up a fluro bulb and you will understand.

 

[madcaow]

i spose.

i just am a lazy git! plus i dont think i can make em look so flashy!

hhuhu.

plus all that stuff is not easy to find where i live i have discovered!!

if someone has it all in one package it makes it so much easier for me!

found this one too.

http/www.aquariumproducts.com.au/prod1287.htm

maybe i will wait a few weeks and do some more investigating.

 

[netcode]

its really up to you. the premade will save you time, the DIY project will save you money. all depends what you want.

goodluck


so chris if your saying cost is something you are concerned about when upgrading I think you should look into making something on your own and see if its feasible. its definatley in your interest to upgrade there is no doubt about that. at .8 wpg not much is going to grow to its full potential.

 

[Themuleous]

You can get chearper overtank lights from this seller on ebay. Just need to change the bulbs.

Sam

 

[Chri$]

Thanks for your advice so far guys

You can get chearper overtank lights from this seller on ebay. Just need to change the bulbs.

Sam

Thanks for the link Sam. I have found this from the seller you reccomended T5 but with delivery and new bulbs it's going to cost about £110.
So i found this T8 cheaper and everythings there i need?

 

[Themuleous]

Yeh guess that one you found would be best, and it comes with one plant tube so you'd only need to replace the other one (the original tropical). There is a case for getting the T5 as the light produced by T5's is meant to be stronger and penetrate deeper, but that's probably more of a problem with deeper tanks, what are the tank dimensions?

 

[Chri$]

32x16x12 - 20ukg long.

 

[Themuleous]

In that case th T8's would probably be fine and give you 2.5WPG, plent of light.

 

[Chri$]

Would it be possible to run 2wpg without Co2 without having major algae problems?