Suggestions For A Strip Light?

[Winterlily]

I've got a 20 gallon long (30 inches long, 12 inches wide, 12 inches high) that houses apple snails. There are no live plants at all, and the tank is covered with a "glass canopy." I need a new strip light. Does anyone have any suggestions on what might be a good choice for this tank? I want something that will light up the tank reasonably well - all of it. The snails stay on the bottom a lot of the time and have gorgeous color - I'd like to be able to actually see them once in a while. But I really don't want any more algae than I can avoid - so don't want a light that's too strong for my needs. I also can't spend tons... no more than about $100ish, absolute tops.

Any suggestions as to specific strip would be much appreciated. Any suggestions on what bulb(s) to use in this case would also be really appreciated. I know I obviously don't need actinic, but do I want one of those 10,000, one of the purpley/pink ones, or one of the plant (6500) ones?? I'd like the light to be as near natural light as possible.

Thanks so much!

 

[OldMan47]

A simple bulb that will give you a nice light for viewing can be anywhere from a cool white bulb at around 3000K to a daylight bulb in the 5500K to 6500K range. The cool white will be a bit yellower than the daylight bulbs. The 6700K daylight will be a bit blue in color and the 5500K will be a stark white. A 2 foot long T-8 bulb in a small fluorescent fixture will give decent illumination but not enough to really grow anything. A bulb that length is also much easier to find than some custom made thing at 30 inches. With only 3 inches at each end of the bulb, the light will fairly well light everything in the tank. Specific brand names in a simple fixture like that do not matter. You could even get a light at the local home improvement center like a Lowes, Menards, etc. For more efficient power consumption, an electronic ballast in the fixture makes sense and will pay for itself in electric bills in a year or two.

 

[Winterlily]

Thanks for that! What kind of wattage am I/should I be looking for in a a single bulb T8? And, that will definitely illuminate well down to the (black) gravel? They spend the majority of their time messing around at bottom.

Also, OM, do fans matter? I keep reading that this fixture has a fan, this one does not etc. Same question for the legs that hold some of the strips up and off the tank.

Thank you again!

 

[OldMan47]

I a presently using some fixtures that include fans Winterlily. They are intended to be operated when a fixture has a ballast in a confined area and there is no other easy way to vent off the heat the ballast generates. In many cases, I find there is no reason to plug in the fan, so I don't. I do use the legs that they supply in order to give me some space between the fixture and the water for air to circulate properly. If I had a nice short spacer between the tank lid and the light without the legs, I would not use them at all. When you set up the light strip, you want it to get good air circulation to keep things nice and cool and legs or fans may help. I find that I need to put the light in place to decide whether or not the legs or fans are needed.
There4 is only one wattage available in each length for a standard T-8 or T-12 fixture, so choosing the right wattage will be easy. For a T-12 it is 10 watts per foot and for a t-8 the number is a bit less. The t-8 will give a bit more light with less power consumption so I always go in that direction. For a 2 foot T-12 this means a 20 watt bulb and if memory serves me it is a 16 watt for the T-8. It is not much but as long as you are only lighting fish and snails, no plants, it will be enough for good viewing.