Lights

[Cichlid-Man]

If i were to get 3 celing light fixtures for my 55gal "planted", each at 50W and a halogen bulb........would this bulb be ok? If not, what kind of bulb do i need? Any special kind? (they would have to be the reg. shaped compacts that you would use in a table lamp or something.)

Would this be enough light to not limit my plant choices to low lights?

Thanks.

 

[420Loach]

im not sure about halogen lights, ive never used them. *ahem* however, i have used high-preasure sodium and metal halide lights in a "plant" situation and they worked great. kind of expensive and they get pretty hot while there on, so they probably arent good for aquarium use i guess, but i bet the plants would look great.

id like to know an answer to this too, i need to build a few new hoods.

 

[Lotus]

You might want to check out Orion's canopy, here: http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13716

Ecotank did overdriven 48" bulbs on our 55g, although it's a tight fit.

Everyone swears by the AHSupply kits, but that was just more money than we had.

 

[420Loach]

that is a sweet hood. i wanted to get a bigger tank, but with the prices i saw, im better off building one. im gonna do some wood pricing, and if i can get a good price on a sheet of glass, ill build a tank(practice for my loach tank later) stand, hood, tank, possibly filter. hope the wood prices dont sink my boat.

 

[AndyL]

You could do that, or you could go for 2-3 70w Metal halide HQI's - these are pretty reasonably priced on ebay and other places right now... They haven't acheived the popularity of the higher wattage metal halides...

2 pairs of 48" flourescents can fit (4 bulbs) more if you use ice cap ends leaving out the shoplight fixture (Just using the ballast and the bulbs/endcaps). Overdriving is definitely an option - there's a great writeup on www.plantedtank.com in the lighting section.

Andy

 

[Cichlid-Man]

See my lighting would be something like this, and not a canopey.

I'd have an All-Glass verse top on top.

 

[Lotus]

I'm thinking that if you're going for that kind of setup, metal halides will work better. I think you will have refraction issues with spiral flourescents. Our local hydroponics store had a used metal halide with reflector for about $100, I think, but you might get something good on eBay.

I guess you could also go for a shoplight fixture over the tank. I am sure if you hang lights too high, you will lose some light.

 

[catfishmike]

halogen works but from what i have read,they are subject to big shifts in the k spectrum.stick to the low wattage metal halides and i think that would be best.if your going to generate that much heat,make it worth you while and use the metal halides.i have read some people have had good results with halogen but i don't like halogen bulbs.they are easy to break,they run real hot,and they all seem to have a very yellow tone to the light.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Do Metal Halides run real hot? Fairly hot?

 

[AndyL]

Metal halides run really hot.

you could run flourescent fixtures in a similar manner lenthwise - you wont be able to use the screw in flourescents on a tank this size...

Andy

 

[allthingsanimal]

I used to use 2 shoplights on my 55g planted. I got a total of 160watts. I used a mixture of 6500k and 10000k bulbs. If you get the shoplights you can always overdrive the bulbs for more wattage.