Lights on a 55 gallon

[vinodhv]

My tank has finally stabilized. I've started decorating it and adding some fish.

I was interested in changing the lighting in the tank. it's a 55 gallon with dual hoods, each with 1 20W bulb. I was trying to increase the wattage to maybe grow some plants. Is it possible to just buy bulbs with higher wattages or do I have to replace the hoods?

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

you could OverDrive the current bulbs by replacing the existing ballasts with ballasts out of 4ft shop lights. Your current 40 watts of light is not enough for much of anything. But even that would not give you enough coverage/intensity. You have a lot of options if you want to go with live plants. All are gonna cost you a few bucks, but depending on what option you choose, there is a big difference in the lower end and upper end of "few bucks".

How comfortable are you with doing things yourself? If you are willing to read up on stuff just a little bit, you can save a lot of money by retrofitting, as oppsed to buying a hood made for plants from someone already made.

Orion just bought a VERY nice hood for his 75 gallon tank I believe. If you want to buy something finished, what he has is an awesome choice, and I think they come in other sizes as well.

 

[Orion]

Nope. Wasn't me delta. I don't buy anything that I can at least think I can make myself.

You can get 4' shop lights from Lowes for around $8. These use 2 40w bulbs. You may be able to sqeeze two of these over a 55 and end up a a decent amount of lighting. Also www.ahsupply.com is a good place to get Power Compact kits for a little more expesive, but more effecent lighting.

 

[vinodhv]

hey thanks for the input guys. i'm going to go to home depot and see what i can do with the shop lights. does the 3watt per gallon rule apply for plants? i've read in some posts that it isn't a definitive rule...

 

[vinodhv]

if i got shop lights, what kind of wattage per gallon would you guys recommend?

 

[longtyme68]

My 55 gal has only a single flourescent bulb, which I think is 20 watts. I guess I can just follow vinodhv's plan, but why would I need the additional light without plants?

 

[vinodhv]

hey, i'm thinking of increasing the lighting to maybe grow some plants. i've just seen aquariums with better lighting and i think they bring out the beauty of the fish and the tank better.

 

[Balloon Fish]

the wpg rule was made for plants 3wpg is a good number to start at cuase you can grow virtualy anything in 3wpg. But make sure you get some co2 into that tank or the plants won't grow as well and algae can take over. And definently know your fertilizers. And i would suggest starting off with a lot of fast growers.

NoDelta- I think it was Avalon who got the new T5 lighting for his 75g

 

[longtyme68]

Balloon Fish, what does wpg stand for?

 

[Balloon Fish]

watts per gallon so if you had 20watts and your tank is 55g you would have .36wpg which can hardly grow anything other then ferns, mosses, and anubias

 

[vinodhv]

watts per gallon

 

[longtyme68]

Ah, so for a 55gal I would have to have 165 watts of lights to attain the desired 3 wpg. Got it! Thanks!

 

[Balloon Fish]

3wpg is for high light plants, in my opinion if you are a begginer i would aim for the medium lighting plants to low becuase high lighting plants require lots of things like co2 injection, proper fertilization, etc. But in medium and low lighting they are less picky

 

[longtyme68]

I wasn't planning to jump into the co2 injection and madium to hard plants until I have a little more experience with what environment I want. I need more knowledge. In the few days I have been browsing MFT I have gone into brain meltdown. My fiancee is constantly telling me to get off the computer. I am on military leave and don't have much else to do, but relax around the house and learn!