Magicide Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 The tank kit I bought only came with two 30 Watt lights. Giving me 1.09 watts per gallon. I want to go to 2-3 watts/gallon but the aquarium lighting doesn't seem to support lighting that high. I have a GeoSystem 100. What alternatives do I have to give myself the required 100-150 Watts for a tank this size? Also what about bulbs? They seem to make a big deal about the bulbs replicating tropical sunlight as opposed to normal bulbs which I assume filter it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neely Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 here is something that really caught my attention. http://www.geocities.com/teeley2/overdrv1.html i tried over driving t8's on my 90 and 45 and i must say there is a huge difference. Its a little DIY involved but nothing too hard for even someone like myself who has never messed with electrical before. I got the idea from another member on this site who has an awesome looking planted 90 gallon (if i remember correctly). read that link and do some searching on overdriving t8 flourescent bulbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garhan Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 Someone else on AA also did an overdrive and dam well nearly burned down his home. For only 2.4 more effectiveness. I run 50 gallon tanks, 30 and 60 gallon systems and either use 1 or 2, 4x ballasts in a T-8 and in the furture will use T-5's. But for now they are T-8's and are very effective. Bulbs are 6700 k full spectrum bulbs purchased at HD or Commercial Lighting Ltd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neely Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 2x over driven would be a much more conservative way to go. that would be a 4 lamp ballast running 2 lights increasing the bulbs intensity by 1.7x. thats what i have on the go and an quite happy with the increase in light and yet little amount of heat produced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magicide Posted November 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 (edited) So if I wanted 150 watts of lightning am I better off going with two 75 watt bulbs or say 4x40 watts? Also how do you get lighting suitable for plants? The LFS sells bulbs tailored to output that light frequency, can you buy something like that at a hardware store? Edited November 7, 2005 by Magicide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanker Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 I bought lights from Aquagiant and tore them out of the aluminum casing to fit into my custom 50g canopy. I have 2x18W (6500K) + 2x24W (10000K) and it's a really nice light. I am going to replace the 18's with 24's soon, as the design of the 24s is WAY nicer (the 18s have a transformer seperate from the light, which makes for more to mount; the 24s are all built in with a transformerless design [this must have a special name, but I don't know what it is] which makes them easier to mount and maintain). The 24W lights come complete for $30 each and are a deal in my books. The complete thing is 15" long; bulb, mount, everything once it's taken out of the original housing (18" as purchased). BTW: they are all 'four pins in a line'... what's that? T-5 or something? DIY rocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 I've got 3 40W T6 bulbs over my 55 right now. Before I put in a reflector, it wasn't enough light. I think the +-2 wpg rule of thumb is with a reflector. I picked the T6s up at the LFS, but I think I'll go back to the T8s at Home Depot b/c they're cheaper, and do the trick. From what I've heard & read, plants aren't picky about color (that is if you're using comonly available flourescents), just intensity. The color temp is more for our enjoyment. I like to use lights in the 6000K range, but add a 10,000K+ at the front to show off the colors of the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magicide Posted November 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 What kind of reflector do you have to use? Just something reflective like metal or a mirror attached on the inside or can you buy them with a reflector attached? I'm think I would like to go with 2x40 Watt 6500k and 2x18 Watt 10000k. Should give me a little more than 2 Watt/Gallon and bring out the colour in fish quite nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 On this tank, I just had to trim a 4' shoplight fixture so it would fit. It has a glass lid on top of the canopy, that flips up, so I had to put a reflector inside. What I've done with a fully enclosed canopy is paint the inside white. Tests show that flat white is the most reflective. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magicide Posted November 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2005 (edited) So I've read up on lighting and can now make a reasonable stab at getting the right things. But I can't seem to find any place that has what I want. I am planning on making an acrylic top for my aquarium and cut into it a hinged door and cut out holes for the lights and other equipment. Now what I'm looking for is a shop in north or west edmonton that can sell a fluorescent ballast with reflector that is capable of putting out about 150 watts of 6000 K lighting and about 40 watts of 10000 K lighting. I'll probably need another ballast for the 10k lighting. The 50 gallon tank is 39 1/2" X 15 3/4" in dimension. Home Hardware and the like sell 36" ballasts but they only seem to support up to 30 Watts and Google isn't pulling up anything useful for me. Anyone know of a shop that sells lighting like this? Edited November 11, 2005 by Magicide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garhan Posted November 11, 2005 Report Share Posted November 11, 2005 Go to BE Electric Ltd. or Commercial Lighting ltd.. You can find both in the White Pages . But they are on the southside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted November 11, 2005 Report Share Posted November 11, 2005 I stopped in at Amre (sorry, another Sside store) and picked up a ballast to run 4 x 4' T8s. It's driving my 3 x 4' 40W T6s fine. I have a 54gal, so that's 2.2 wpg. Again, I just dismantled a 4' twin-strip shoplight fixture for the reflector. Hope this helps withs some ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magicide Posted November 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 I am truly stumped on lighting now. My tank is 40" long so the only size I can use that fits properly is a 36" tube. But I can't find any 36" 6500k tubes with a wattage higher than 30 Watts. I am looking for 3-4 Watts per gallon for a 50 liter tank so I need about 150-200 Watts but I can't find anything that would let me hook up 5 or 6 30 watts bulbs easily. As well I want to add in a 10000k bulb to bring out the colours of the fish. Does anyone know of a place to get a setup that can help me out with lighting or is my tank being less than the 48" fluorescent standard going to kill my hopes of having proper lighting? I spoke to BE Electric and Commercial Lighting Ltd in Edmonton and they both couldn't help me out. Google has also let me down... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nandopsis Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 Have you seen a T-5 bulb? You could easily get 2 bulbs in place of (1) T-12 That might be a option for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magicide Posted November 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 Actually this seems quite promising, thanks for pointing it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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