lighting for 5?

[YahooFishKeeper]

my friend gave me a 5 gallon tank. its not like regular ones, it is a rectangle like a ten gallon. it came with some really sucky lighting, like on betta tanks. i wanted to know if anyone knew of a flourescent(sp?) light and hood for a tank that small?

 

[Perfectblue]

Is it a AGA 5.5g tank? What are the dimensions of the tank?

 

[zoo minsi]

if its a 5.5 rectangle the dimensions are probably 16x8x10, the lighting that came with it is it flourescent or incandescent?

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

the kind with the bulb... not the tube... i guess it would be incandescent.

 

[Seiryoku]

Looks like you have this.

I couldn't find any pre-made flourescent hoods for a 5.5g, maybe you can find a flourescent screw in bulb that will fit in the space, or mod it somehow?

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

exactly! irs really crappy. it makes everything look yellow... like its dirty and stuff.

 

[echoofformless]

I actually modified a ten gallon incandescent hood. The bulb fittings are in the middle, so as to allow me two 10w mini pc bulbs. It hangs over the edges slightly, but it's not even that noticeable.

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

do they make flourescents short enough for a 5?

 

[VirgoWolf]

I've got this one for my 6gal, only lights up one side completely, but it makes the tank look bright and clean and Brilla the Betta seems to like it. I was going to put it in the middle, but the hood and filter kinda woulden't cooperate, no biggie.

There is also normal strip lights that are 12" and 16" here.

Either choice works well with a glass hood.

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

would that be overkill on lightong for a 5 gallon? i was going to plant it... that equals out to be 3.6 wpg.

 

[VirgoWolf]

I'm no expert, but mine is a 6gal, so 3WPG sounded good LOL, I know some moderate/high light plants will be fine in 3.6, just not sure if you could use low light plants or not... this will be my first planted tank when I can afford plants LOL.

 

[MOsborne05]

I've got the same hood and I bought a 10 watt cf screw in bulb instead of the incandescent. Seems to work fine

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

cf? is that one of those twisty looking flouresent ones? if it is... could i just use that instead?

 

[MortiferousSoul]

yeah cf is compact flourecent, they have those twisty ones and straight ones

 

[noncentric]

yeah cf is compact flourecent, they have those twisty ones and straight ones

One thing to keep in mind is that less light actually penetrates the water column with the spiral (twisty) bulbs, so the straight or U-shaped ones would be better. Also, I'm not sure where the Kelvin rating is on those bulbs, but you'll want to make sure it's at least 5500k.

Good luck!

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

would they have those at walmart with the rest of the light bulbs? i was going to try to find ones around 6000 to 6500.

 

[Lotus]

The ones in the Walmart fish section work really well.

 

[MortiferousSoul]

yep those are the ones i got, only run about4-5 dollars each

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

i got a 10 watt of those "u" shaped ones. it works great!!!! its in the 5 right now. after a while, i might actually be able to afford plants!