Lighting  one year on

[adeyc]

If you want to wrap atube in acitate get the stage lighting stuff stuff. It's heat proof and wont melt/catch fire. I use the stuff for studio work. leave the light on for 5 minutes and you burn yourself touching then. lights don't get much hotter thatn these things and the coloured gels are fine. You'd get away with something other if you're usuing tubes but I don't know what to suggest for it. normal coloured plastic may be ok but it also could melt.
Time for one or more of the others to step in here I think.

 

[gadazobe]

I've got a juwel tank that came with 2 lights in the cover. Can I use ordinary florescents to replace them (they're very near the water and often get wet when the fish "jump" ) or do I have to get special ones from juwel? :what:

 

[Macquatic]

Standard tubes are OK, the units should've sealed ends where they attach to the tube. Not very good for a planted tank though, they're the wrong spectrum. Your plants will still grow but not as well. Probably the Jewel tubes cost the proverbial!! Mac.

 

[gadazobe]

Haven't changed them yet - but the tank is metric 1 metre long and it's difficult to find standard tubes that fit

 

[Macquatic]

36" tube is your nearest size. Mac.

 

[Great Lakes]

Reg, word has it that fish are blind to the red spectrum. I have heard from some folks that have used those Xmas light ropes with the red lights, and are satisfied with the illumination they give off. These are also fairly weather proof for use under your hood. I use a black light system for simulated moonlight on my reef tank. It is not suitable for viewing, but if I put enough watts into it I'm sure it would be. I just use the black light because at shallow depths, fish still have illumination from the moon at night, and this seemed like a way to mimic the natural environmeant a bit.

 Gad, I'm daft when it comes to the juwell tanks, I am gonna have to do some research. Also, look at one of your lights and tell me what the numbers are on the tube. Then maybe I can give you some ideas.

 

[Great Lakes]

Whacky, do you have a canopy on your tank, or just one of the plastic hood things?

 

[reg2k2]

GL, yeah, that's why I figured the heat must've tipped him off.  Hmm, x-mas lights...that would certainly cut down the heat aspect.

Adeyc,  is acetate same as cellophane?  And where might I find this stage lighting stuff stuff?  And the colored gels--are they part of the stuff stuff?

thanx

 

[gadazobe]

All I can see on them is Phillips - made in Holland - the numbers must have got "washed off" by continuous splashing All I know is that one is "white" light and the other "yellow" light. As you can guess, I'm technically retarded

 

[Tatya]

1m long? Gadazobe which tank do you have??? Is it one of the bow fronted ones? (I thought the juwels came in just the 0.9 and 1.2 m lengths (alright apart from the smaller and larger ones and the curvy ones ))

I've a rio240 I'll see if I've still got numbers on mine - they're phillips too and defo need replacing.

 

[Great Lakes]

You can just carry the bulb right into a hardware with you. They can match it up. One bulb to get is the "sunlight" one. This should have a 6500K rating on it. Second bulb, I would use something a little cooler. Something with a bit of a blue spectrum to it. Can you turn the bulbs on independantly? Or do they both come on at the same time?

 

[Tatya]

If Gadazobe's is like mine they'll both come on together.

 

[gadazobe]

Tatya's right, they both come on together. My tank is called a cottage something or the other. It's an old design and isn't made by them any more. Anyway, I'm trying to persuade the old man that we need a larger tank, Rio 400, so Simon, my pleco, will have more room to grow

 

[wetwetwet]

Mmmm...OK

So it looks like a new plant growth tube for the back and some experimenting for the front tube.

Does anyone have any experience of reflectors, (for a Rio400) , do they clip to the tube itself?

 

[Great Lakes]

I use metal duct tape. The real metal stuff used in home heating ducts. It is shiny on both sides. Cut it to size, and stick it right on the top half of the bulb.