Lighting Question

[kreativ]

Hey guys,

I have some plants in my aquarium, but i need more light, i have a 30g tank. I've read that it should be 4wpg, i have a tank hood but it only has one strip of light. I've been looking for a replacement tube that has more than 75 watts, but no luck so far. The one i found online was way too expensive, the highest affordable tube was only 40 watts. So i need a double strip hood so i could get to 80 watts. How about if i want more than 80watts of lighting? Any cheap places i could go to that i could get the desire lighting i need?

 

[Teelie]

Best place I know is Fosters and Smith. What is your price range? Good lighting isn't usually cheap. I was lucky and got two different used compact strips (110 and 130 watts respectively) for $30 each that sell for $130 new but those were sheer luck. You could see if your LFS has any old strips they'd be willing to sell.

 

[kreativ]

Best place I know is Fosters and Smith. What is your price range? Good lighting isn't usually cheap. I was lucky and got two different used compact strips (110 and 130 watts respectively) for $30 each that sell for $130 new but those were sheer luck. You could see if your LFS has any old strips they'd be willing to sell.

I've been looking everywhere and the ones with the highest watts were around 30 bucks. (40 watts).

 

[MrWaxhead]

Or you could build a hood I am assuming your 30g is 30" wide, get a t5ho ballast that will run 4 - 24" inch bulbs or 2 ballasts one for each bank of two so you could run 2 on all 4 on 2 on kind of lighting etc) and stager them in the hood to maximize side to side coverage. That would give you 96w of t5ho over 30 for 3.2 wpg but technically t5ho is rated at 1.22 to a t12 and I am pretty sure t12 is what wpg was roughly rated at, so that would be 3.9 wpg of lighting.

But you also really don't have to go nearly that high in wpg, as I have grown tons of plants well in one of my 29g with under 2 wpg (they just grew slower, which can be nice). It really depends on what you are trying to grow, and how much time you want to spend in your tank with scizzors trimming hehe. Pretty much any stem plant in high wpg and c02 and you will be a fish tank lumberjack topping and replanting and just plain turfing the excess or giving / trading it in at lfs for stuff if its healthy.

 

[Teelie]

But you also really don't have to go nearly that high in wpg, as I have grown tons of plants well in one of my 29g with under 2 wpg (they just grew slower, which can be nice). It really depends on what you are trying to grow, and how much time you want to spend in your tank with scizzors trimming hehe. Pretty much any stem plant in high wpg and c02 and you will be a fish tank lumberjack topping and replanting and just plain turfing the excess or giving / trading it in at lfs for stuff if its healthy.

Heh, true. My Hornwort went from a clump of dense branches to a small pine tree inside a week under my 55watts. I still have another 55watts I could add but that turned my tank into a veritable swamp with algae. And I'm not doing the CO2 yet. Have to wait til next week when I get paid.