Beginner Lf Lighting Help

[Abby]

Hi everyone,

I have just finished (for now!) setting up my new 75 gallon freshwater community tank. I'm pretty excited about it and love the way it's turned out. My only gripe is with the lighting. I have the 48" hood lamp that came with it and it has one of those long halogen bulbs in it (fluorescent? Halogen? I know nothing about lights!)

Anyway, it's a very bright, white light and It washes everything in the tank out and I'm not thrilled with it.

So, a few questions for this knowledgable community:

1. Is there a better bulb I can buy that will look nicer than the one in it? (That would fit in my hood)

2. Can someone explain LED lighting a bit? Does it give a better look? Is there a relatively inexpensive led upgrade that I could move to? (I've spent a lot these past few weeks on this new aquarium...for now I would like to try to keep the costs down. Which is why obviously replaceing the bulb would be my first solution. But I'm open to hearing about some better methods)

I do have some live plants in there, so please consider that when making some suggestions.

Thank you kindly everyone,

Abby

[geleen]

The light you have is likely ~ 6500 Kelvin brightness. This would be the one to use with plants. Decor plays a role in "washing out"

You can play with background color or substrate color( not so easy with fish in the tank) dollar store plastic table cloth is a nice cheap way to change the backgrounds and get a feel of what you want. Many use blue or black. I have both but prefer bright blue.

This said the hood light is likely a cheap bulb, so you can take it to the fish store for size and buy a replacement Gieseman bulb for plants.

I have used tubes at 3500 K this will give a more yellow light 10000k is very white.

I would hold of on Led lights for a bit, you could spend another $ 175 very quickly....the technology for aquariums is changing rapidly and getting better all the time.

J

Edited May 8, 2013 by geleen

[Abby]

Great info! Thank you.

Out of curiosity, is there much difference between the basic bulb which came with it and those bulbs in the cleverly designed boxes at the LFS that claim to aid in plant development? I I buy that am I just getting the same bulb that I probably already have?

Here's an example:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=13149672&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInCA%2FNo

Thank you

[geleen]

yeah perhaps..... that is why I mentioned the Giesemann bulb should be able to get the right one at your LFS not petsmart.

[Eugene]

Yeah Lamps can be very deceiving cause the K rating is not given from an underwater point of view and watts per gallon doesn't really work halogen would be extremely hot you sure what kind of lamp it is.

[Abby]

The bulb currently in my hood is a Marineland F40t10 natural daylight.

Upon further reading. . .my hood is a T8/T10 so it looks like T5's are out of the question for the time being.

Maybe in a month or so I'll look at upgrading to a T5 dual hood. . .but for now, I just don't think it's in the budget. (Unless a forum member is looking to unload a 48" one cheap!) :rofl:

So, I'm back to looking at the T8's. . .

If I could impose upon you folks for your opinions on the following (or something better?. . .I'm not a big fan of shopping at Petsmart/Petland but the LFS's don't post their products on their websites. So this is all I have for now):

Aqueon Floramax T8

Zoo Med Ocean sun 10,000K

Zoo Med Ultra Sun Trichromatic

Zoo Med Flora Sun Maximum Plant Growth

They all look the same to me! Lighting Is confusing lol.

Thanks again for the help all.

Edited May 8, 2013 by Abby

[Cgy_Betta_Guy]

I have used the zoo med ultra and flora suns with pretty good success in my stock hood. I used a mix of the 2 in all my tanks as one is a bit whiter than the other. I have since upgraded both my 58 gallon tanks to T5HO lights because I want to grow some of the more demanding stuff for my scapes.

One thing to consider is bulb costs... you are supposed to replace tubes yearly as the wavelengths it out puts alters over time and becomes "unusable" for your plants. That is usually when you start seeing a bit of algae growing. LED are supposed to maintain the wavelength over time but whether that is true in practice remains to be seen.

[Abby]

I have used the zoo med ultra and flora suns with pretty good success in my stock hood. I used a mix of the 2 in all my tanks as one is a bit whiter than the other. I have since upgraded both my 58 gallon tanks to T5HO lights because I want to grow some of the more demanding stuff for my scapes.

One thing to consider is bulb costs... you are supposed to replace tubes yearly as the wavelengths it out puts alters over time and becomes "unusable" for your plants. That is usually when you start seeing a bit of algae growing. LED are supposed to maintain the wavelength over time but whether that is true in practice remains to be seen.

I just can't help but wonder if I pickup one of the Zoo Med's . .will it just look identical to the Marineland that is in there?

[Cgy_Betta_Guy]

Could be... wont know until you try one of the bulbs. Is it only a single bulb fixture?

maybe you just need more plants in there so it doesnt look washed out... lol.

[Abby]

Could be... wont know until you try one of the bulbs. Is it only a single bulb fixture?

maybe you just need more plants in there so it doesnt look washed out... lol.

It is indeed a single bulb fixture. My assumption (which of course could be way off) is simply "It's the bulb that came with it. . .therefore . . .it's probably rubbish".

I did paint the back of my tank black. It was hard to paint it underwater, but it eventually worked (kidding of course. . .). I was hoping the black background would make everything pop a little more, and it does. . . but the fish still look a bit dull when I turn the light on.

Maybe I should blame the fish. haha

[Cgy_Betta_Guy]

I think you should see how your plants grow under the bulb you have since its a daylight bulb it might be decent. New zoomed bulb from big als is probably 25 - 30 bucks for the 48" tubes if I remember right... that money might be better spent towards a lighting fixture upgrade in the future if you dont like what you have now. And you never know.. .the current lighting might start to grow on you.

[Abby]

I think you should see how your plants grow under the bulb you have since its a daylight bulb it might be decent. New zoomed bulb from big als is probably 25 - 30 bucks for the 48" tubes if I remember right... that money might be better spent towards a lighting fixture upgrade in the future if you dont like what you have now. And you never know.. .the current lighting might start to grow on you.

Sage advice! I thank you for it.

[Eugene]

2 lammps would work or one if you grow low lite plants 6500k cheap at lowes.Daylite deluxe.

[DivineHammer]

I would agree with everyone, you could prob go with a 6500k bulb from HD or lowes or wally mart.