Please help me with light choice

[crissy7399]

I have a 46 bowfront tank, so the light that came with it is 36inch. It also is a very low watt from what I've been told and read on this site.

I have three plants in the tank right now along with some tiger barbs and platys. I do not plan on ever getting a co2 unit, so I know I should have a low intensity light still, but I also know the one that's in there now isn't even that good.

The plants are a bunch of 5 Anachris, 1 java fern, and 1 java moss. I want to get a couple more Java ferns when the LFS has some more and that'll probably be it. Just want some real plants to make the fish happier.

I can't spend $50 bucks on a light, especially when I'll have to buy a new one every year. But if there was something under $20 that would work with my setup that would be great.

I went to "BigAls Online" but I could only find 30 or less watt bulbs, like the Coralife T-5 6,700K Plant Lamp-36" which is only 21watts! I was thinking I should probably have at least 70watts (1.5w x 46g). So I've heard people talk about retrofitting their light to fit two bulbs, but it doesn't look like mine would fit two bulbs (?). I'm good at learning things, but when it comes to technical stuff, I'm not so great! Shouldn't there be something higher? There are so many different types, I like the color of the light and all that. I'm really confused.

Any suggestions are appreciated. I've been trying to read the others comments on here, but I'm just not technically/electronically inclined.

Thank you!!!!

 

[seastaar88]

if you feel handy, you could do a DIY lighting setup. bigredspecial wrote a good article not to long ago:
http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?t=33994

 

[Lotus]

The basic fact is that with standard fluorescent hoods, a certain lenth of bulb will only give out a certain number of watts.

This is because the power going to the bulb is controlled by a ballast, which only has a certain level of output.

I hope that explains how it works.

To "fix" your low light, you either need to get a new light fixture for the tank (that won't be inside the hood), or you can do a "retrofit." A retrofit is basically a kit you use after removing the current lighting and wiring from the hood. The retrofit contains the new wiring and you can put a higher intensity bulb, like a compact fluorescent, into the new setup.

 

[crissy7399]

thank you Lotus. I kept wondering why I couldn't find any higher watts. The way they are advertised makes it seem like they would work by themselves. It's very misleading to us "ignorant" folk.

I will look into this retrofit, and hopefully I can do it. Or maybe I could get two bulbs in there? probably not enough room. My light fixture is separate from the glass hood, so that is good.

Thank you again, Maybe I should look for another light fixture all together?

 

[Lotus]

If you have a strip light type thing that sits on the glass hood, it would probably be easier to get either a T-5 strip or a compact flourescent strip to replace it. Be warned, they're usually not cheap

 

[crissy7399]

Ya Lotus, I see where the compact strips are expensive, and their watts are definitely more, it would be ideal, but we've already spent too much money so far.

I looked up the T-5 strips, but their watts are still under 30. Is there something I'm missing with that? Are you meaning to retrofit it for a dual lamp with the t-5's?

Thank you!