Lighting: Jewel Rekord 70

[jmkgreen]

I just checked and the "reflector" that came as standard is just a bit of white plastic? Surely a reflector should be a mirror, rather than a solid colour?

Also, the bulb is daylight 15W - are there problems with obtaining a 24" 20W version? Would I need different connections for instance? I take it upping by 5W (10W with reflector) would help with live plants?

 

[daza]

Juwel also sell a shiny metal reflector which fits in place of the white thing it comes with. It costs about £4-5.

A 24" lamp wouldn't fit would it? There have been lots of threads on upgrading the lighting in Juwel Rekords in the DIY section. BigC and some others put a second 15W lamp in the hood (link)

I built a new hood and installed some T5 power compacts (link)

If you upgrade the wattage then the ballast (built into the hood) would need to be upgraded too.

Light is one key thing for growing live plants, but there is lots of other things to consider too. Have you checked out the planted tank section? Lots of good info in there.