chloeclose Posted April 5, 2009 Report Share Posted April 5, 2009 (edited) So I'm looking to start a 20 gallon long, planted, community tank. Likely a South American type if my water params are not too messed up in my new location. Lights have changed a lot since I was in the hobby before... I don't think I wanna go *extreme* high light. Was thinking between 2-3 watts/gallon. CO2 added. Fluorite substrate or Eco-Complete. Suggestions? I don't have a lot of money to spend, I am curious about T5's and ballast kits. Am willing to try DIY type ideas as well. Thanks! Edited April 6, 2009 by chloeclose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceturf Posted April 5, 2009 Report Share Posted April 5, 2009 (edited) So I'm looking to start a 20 gallon long, planted, community tank. Likely a South American type if my water params are not too messed up in my new location.Lights have changed a lot since I was in the hobby before... I don't think I wanna go *extreme* high light. Was thinking between 2-3 watts/gallon. CO2 added. Fluorite substrate or Eco-Complete. Suggestions? I don't have a lot of money to spend, I am curious about T5's and ballast kits. Am willing to try DIY type ideas as well. Thanks! You could wait for a good, used lighting system to come up for sale on here. But if you don't want to wait, rigging up some Daylight 26w bulbs (Canadian Tire sells two packs for 12 ish) is cheap and so is rigging up a DIY t8 24" daylight set. Haven't done it myself, but I've seen some cheap t8 bulbs at Rona ~$6/each. Edited April 5, 2009 by Iceturf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted April 5, 2009 Report Share Posted April 5, 2009 If you get a tank w. an incandescent canopy, get a couple of the 23-40W screw in bulbs, and you'll be able to grow just about anything. Another good place to buy is All Seasons Garden Centre (81Ave and 100st) - they have single T5 bulbs w. ballast for around $25ea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayen Posted April 5, 2009 Report Share Posted April 5, 2009 If you get a tank w. an incandescent canopy, get a couple of the 23-40W screw in bulbs, and you'll be able to grow just about anything. Another good place to buy is All Seasons Garden Centre (81Ave and 100st) - they have single T5 bulbs w. ballast for around $25ea. Definitely go with teh T5 lights, they're great for bang for the buck, and way efficient, get 2 of those, and rig up a fixture w/ decent reflectors , and you can pretty much grow anything. And you can easily supplement it if not enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloeclose Posted April 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2009 Cool... planning to go check out All-Season's tomorrow. Planning to go with a glass top as far as I know. Going to go the ultra-cheap route and see if I can't get one made. Thanks guys! :beer: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloeclose Posted April 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 OMFG!!! :shock: OK I feel really retarded now... Went digging around in my storage closet (AKA The. Black. Hole.) and found this: Coralife 24" CF 2 X 65watt fixture I can *not* believe I forgot I had that!!! I kinda remember way back when *trying* to sell it... guess I never did. DUH!! It will fit the not-yet-in-existence 20 long perfectly. :w00t: But this brings up a whole new set of issues. 1) One of the bulbs is burnt out. Which is fine since I don't *really* wanna start my tank out at that kind of intensity... or do I? :shifty: MUAHAHA... er no.... I don't think I do, not until I get my feet wet again. And can afford a good CO2 set-up, ferts, blah blah blah... 2) Would it be okay to run it with one burnt for awhile? Will it harm the fixture? Will it make the tank unbalanced? Should I put the good bulb in the front or the back? 3) I like the idea of a nighttime tank, previously I've had fish that I never saw... it would be kind of nice to do that. Are actinic bulbs good for that? Too much? Too expensive to run in the age of LED's? Is there a better idea? 4)Will a 'nightlight' be bad for the plants or cause weird algae to grow? Any and all suggestions welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byte Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 I have never heard anything bad about running moonlights, I believe it is needed for some corals in a SW setup. Some of the benefits I have heard and seen are watching fish at night and less fish "jumping" out of open tanks. Here is a thread on DIY moonlights using LD bulbs. LED moon lights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 (edited) Jackpot! Finding free equipment is always good. :smokey: One bulb is probably enough to get you started. Once you get everything going and you can always fire up the second one. I'd suggest buying a new bulb since you probably don't know how old the ones in there are. You don't want to really light up the tank at night, just enough to see what's going on. LED moonlights are perfect. If you're not a DIYer, you could try something like this. Edited April 6, 2009 by werner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloeclose Posted April 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 Jackpot! Finding free equipment is always good. :smokey: One bulb is probably enough to get you started. Once you get everything going and you can always fire up the second one. I'd suggest buying a new bulb since you probably don't know how old the ones in there are. You don't want to really light up the tank at night, just enough to see what's going on. LED moonlights are perfect. If you're not a DIYer, you could try something like this. Yes, yes it is. :thumbs: I only wish I'd found it before I posted the original question. Oh well... plants plants plants! -ham- Yes I am getting excited. Thanks for the suggestions guys! :beer: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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