Lighting

[repeej]

So I've decided to upgrade my lighting from it's current single bulb hood light.  The tank is 36"x12" so I figured I would hop in the car head to Home Depot in Kanata and get me a 36" dual fluorescent  light with a couple 36" plant and aquarium bulbs.  Unfortunately I came home empty handed.

For one I couldn't find any 36" plant and aquarium bulbs.  And secondly I only found one dual 36" light but the entire bulbs were exposed so unless I bulid a proper hood for my aquarium I will be lighting the entire room.

Anyone know where I can find a 36" light fixture with closed sides and plant and aquarium bulbs to put in it?  I suppose I could settle for 24" if the 36's are out of the question.

Thanks in advance!

[BigDaddy]

Don't buy "plant and aquarium bulbs"... they make the tank look awful and really don't contribute vastly towards plant growth.

Any dual 3 foot strip light is gonna need some "tweaking" by you to make it work.  Usually if you are going double, triple... etc you have to loose the hood and go with a glass top.  And then you can either construct a small wood hood, or just put something simple together that keeps the light directed at the tank, not the whole room.

[repeej]

Which of the HD bulbs do you recommend?

I was planning to lose the existing hood and going with a glass top.

[BigDaddy]

The 3 footers are the ones with the least amount of choice I find...

Basically, get anything as close to "daylight" as possible.  Cool white is a good runner up.

Avoid warm white and the "plant aquarium" bulbs, as they tend to make the tank look yellowish/redish and aren't very bright looking.

[repeej]

I'll gladly go with a dual 24" fixture if you think that will be sufficient for decent plant growth.

I noticed they had the "daylight" bulbs in the 24" size.

[BigDaddy]

Well.. a 24 inch fixture, you'll max out at 40 watts.

So, you'd only have a little over 1 wpg... and you would have dark spots at either end of the tank.

With a 36, you could get 60 watts.. so if it was a 30 or thereabouts you'd have 2 or almost 2 watts per gallon and the light would cover the full length of the tank.

You'd be better off with a 3 foot fixture with "warm white" bulbs than you would with the 2 foot fixture with "daylight" bulbs.  You want as much light energy as you can, not necessarily a specific colour of light.

[darkdep]

As far as stuff you can find at HD is concerned, the best bulb they have for this sort of thing is the Phillips "Daylight Deluxe" bulb that comes in the light blue cardboard sleeve.  Unfortunately, I think they only come in 18" and 48".

The Phillips "Cool White" is a runner up, and is acceptable, but not perfect.

[redbelly]

check any of the lighting stores like marchant electric. they have 36" T8's and T12's.
they are not called dayligt delux but we i get hom later i can give you the name.
or just go and ask for a bulb with 6500k or someting close.

plant an aquarium bulb are 3200k i blieve...absolute garbage.

[darkdep]

The advantage of the Phillips bulbs is the price:quality ratio.  A specialty lighting store or Big Als would have almost any combination of parameters you're looking for, but at a much higher cost.

In one of my fixtures, I am using 30" 25watt bulbs that are 7000K.  Cost $23 each...

[jaracas]

i thought the main thing was the power output and that the colour temperature was of secondary concern?
as long as the wattage is there then i would go for something aesthetically pleasing personally.
i used to use normal flourescent tubes in days gone by for my plant production line i used to have in my garage, with good results too.
i only used 'aquatic' lighting over tanks that were going to be viewed so they didnt have that horrid yellow overcast

[repeej]

This is all good info....keep it coming!

Seems I have some shopping around to do....and then I have to build some type of a custom hood.

Might even run 3x30w bulbs.  Go big or go home eh!

[BigDaddy]

i thought the main thing was the power output and that the colour temperature was of secondary concern?
as long as the wattage is there then i would go for something aesthetically pleasing personally.

Absolutely correct.

[darkdep]

Yes, the wattage is definetly the main concern.  You can more or less pick a bulb that appeals to you WRT colour temp.  Many people find that bulbs around the 5000-6000k range produce the best colours on their fish and generally make tanks look best (but of course, this is personal opinion, and others will vary).

[redbelly]

I prefer 6500k floresants which can be purchased from any lighting store (such as marchant electric) for around $5-6. and yes marchant does have them in 36 " as thats where i bought mine.

[repeej]

Just got off the phone with the Electrial and Plumbing Store in Bells Corners.  http://www.epstore.com/

They have both 36" Dual and Single Fixtures and also carry 36" Daylight bulbs for $6.99.  So I guess I will head over there in the next few days and make a purchase.  Now we see if I have any woodworking skills.  LOL

[AQUAFREAK]

I built my own canopy with lights because I needed more light then the twin 18" 15 watt fluo that came with the tank.  I went out looking like you did for anything and everything that was on the market.  VHO, Metal Halyde, and then I came accross the compact fluorescent scheme.  Boy was I happy and so was my wallet.

I built my canopy so it sits about 4 1/2 inches above my glass top.  Then I bought 2 double light ceiling fixtures $5.00 each at Rona or HD, the kind that look like a 'T' and you can screw in 2 light bulbs into it.  Than I purchased the new spiral fluorescent daylight 27w sold by phillips at HD $14 twin pack.  Presto I now have over 108 watts of daylight ligth and let me tell the plants and fish perked right up when I placed this new canopy on top.  Of course you got a little wiring to do to connect it all together but it's simple white with white and black with black on some old wire with an existing plug if you got it.  

Anyhow all this to say I got my light and canopy for under $50.00 including lights.

I hope this helps you and you know these lights cost less because the ballast are smaller and 2 lights actually puts out more wattage than 1 - 36" fluoresccent tube and takes up alot less space.  So if you are looking to get more light into your tank than this could be good for you as it's been for me.

[repeej]

AQUAFREAK:  Do you have a picture of your setup you could post?

I'm not familiar with this type of lighting.

Do you mean this?

[BigDaddy]

Aqua:

Spirals radiate light in all directions, and due to their design, do not penetrate the majority of their light into the aquarium.

Just be aware of that when using the "watts per gallon" rule... spirals don't measure up the way normal linear bulbs do.

[repeej]

What are your opinions on this unit???

http://cgi.ebay.com/AQUARIUM-COMPACT-LIGHT-36-JEBO-W-FRESHWATER-BULBS-NEW_W0QQitemZ7712531382QQcategoryZ46314QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[darkdep]

I have heard that Jebo is an el-cheapo brand name, they also have Jebo canister filters on ebay that other sites have had pretty bad reviews of.  But I have heard nothing about their light fixtures...