PC lighting help!

[alter40]

Alright well I know down the road I'm going to want more lighting in my tank so my question is about a light hood they have at walmart. There is a 10 gallon hood that can either use 2 incandescent lights or 2 PC lights. They have PC lights at walmart that are made by Lights of America I believe. These PC lights are 10w each so it be 20w total but wouldn't make a huge difference then my 15W I have now.

My question is, are there more powerful PC lights that will fit into this hood that would help boost my WPG to something a little bit higher? I'm just not sure how powerful of a PC light I would be able to fit into this hood.

 

[alter40]

Ok well this light is almost the same (or could be the same) as the one they sell at walmart.

 

[Avalon]

There are higher watt bulbs available, ranging up to around 25 watts or so each. You'll more than likely have to find them online. Be careful with the ratings. Some say "75w light output," but what they really mean is the light is equivalent to a 75w incandescent...which is meaningless.

 

[alter40]

So if I did go that route it would take me up to 50 watts total. That would be much better for my planted tank then. I did see some 25 watt incandescent bulbs but I will have to look for some stronger PC lights.

They should fit right in the hood without a problem though?

 

[Avalon]

Base-wise, yes. As far as length or diameter, you might double check it.

 

[alter40]

Alright thanks avalon. I will have to look into it and just measure the hood and see how much room it has in it.

 

[cchase85]

That's what I am using for my 10G setup (with the same Walmart lights you are referring to). They work great and are much brighter than the flourescent 10g hood.

 

[alter40]

So you have the 2 10w bulbs in there then?

Is there much room to spare in the hood for a larger light?

 

[cchase85]

I have the 10W Lights of America bulbs in there. I am not entirely sure if you could fit the higher watt (I think they make 25 watt ones) CF bulbs in with the clearance. It would be tight, for sure.

If you want to try out the bigger bulbs, go to Walmart and grab a hood and bring it over to the lighting and try it out, see if they screw in. My initial thought is that they will fit just barely.

The only reason I am not doing it is because my plans are for a lower tech planted tank and I don't want to deal with 3 wpg like I have in my 29g.

 

[alter40]

I will have to go and check it out tomorrow. Thanks for the help!

 

[alter40]

cchase, when I looked at that hood today at walmart it looks like it has plastic covers that go over the lights. To use the larger lights I think these are going to have to be remove (looks like its just one screw to remove)

If I remove that it looks like a 26 watt bulb may just squeeze in there. Here is the bulb that I would likely be using for this hood if I get it http://genet.gelighting.com/LightProducts/images/t03/0000003/r03078v29.jpg

Will water condensation bother these lights. How safe is it to have them in there with that cover off and getting covered with water. This is my main concern.

Any help with this situation would be a GREAT help

 

[tom91970]

The hood on my 14g has a sticker that says "25 watt maximum, tubular type". It came with two 10w mini compact fluorescent lamps...so 20w total. This hood came from Wal-Mart so I'm thinking it's the same as yours.

I would be afraid that using two of those 26w lamps (or 52 total watts) would be a fire hazard, since the fixture probably wasn't designed for that much wattage.

Am I wrong in thinking that?

 

[alter40]

I know you can use 2 25w incandescent lights in this hood. The box I believe says that you can use 15w or 25w incandescent lights. I could always go the next step down as well too. I'm not sure what the wattage is of those bulbs but its under 25w.

 

[cchase85]

The fixture I have is also rated for 50 watts.

I would never use lights over open water. Make sure you have some kind of hood. Come to think of it, I know the hood you are talking about. I didn't like the way it was made at all. Try to find a hood from Perfecto, they are made far better to the Walmart ones.

 

[Lotus]

I had a fixture without the splash guards on, and one morning before work, flames came out of the fixture. Luckily, I was at home to throw the fixture in the trash

You can easily make a splash guard with some clear acrylic.

I agree, the Perfecto ones are better (I think you can get them at the chain pet stores).

 

[alter40]

I believe the hood light and hood I have now is actually made by them. It has an 18" fluorescent bulb in it. I might just stick with this for the time being. The reason I was looking at the hood at walmart was to try and get more lighting into the tank. It seems like thats not the way I should go though. I may look into one of the satellite fixtures and a new hood instead though.

 

[d3sc3n7]

Well, it is walmart!

 

[cchase85]

I suggested Perfecto because they make an incandescent hood that is pretty much identical to the flourescent hood in appearance. It's rated for 50 watts and has a built in splash guard.

 

[alter40]

Ohh alright. I will have to look for that then and see what I can find. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[cchase85]

I picked mine up for 20 bucks at Petsmart.