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would this be a good bulb or is it a little to thick?
http://www.1000bulbs.com/product.php?product=1086

Wow,

would this be a good bulb or is it a little to thick?

That doesn't look right to me at all, but I am no expert on these type of bulbs. I would think that:

a) the light output is way too focussed in one spot
b) you will lose loads of light that cannot reach the tank as the bulb will block even the reflector

How did you come up with this? The only time I see people use this type is over tiny aquaria where space is an issue, and I think I actually once saw that someone here custom-made a hood (for a larger tank) with a batallion of these screwed into it (but I never found out if it worked at all).

What would be wrong with regular CFs, like 2 x 65w, or I guess size wise even 2 x 96W?

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

wat r u tlking about that IS a compact flourescent havent u ever seen one? im confused wats the problem? i used those for a 20 gallon

ok im good now, i hadnt looked at the other style because i couldnt find any adaptors for the gs but i see what you mean about losing light. by luck the first website brought up wat u were talking about though they are more expensive r u sure 130watts is enough?

wat no replies?! ok ill go again, do i have to use those kind of bulbs? the ballast and bulbs together would cost 125$ versus like 30$ if i used the screw in kind

Hi,
I've missed something in my scanning of these posts.
What is the capacity of the tank? With some of the plants
you mentioned, you will need 3+ watts per gallon (wpg).
Those screw-in compact flourscents will work fine...If you
have enough in the home made hood. To get the max light
out of each bulb you would need to mount the bulbs --
rather than || .. That means that you need to use water
proof sockets, and do something to keep the condensation
out of the wiring and sockets. Other than that it would
be a simple parallel wiring job and quite easy to do.
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

ok first of all i dont mean to be rude but the capacity is in the title for crying out loud (Resle's 55 Gallon Log: second of all i have no clue wat u mean when u say

"If you
have enough in the home made hood. To get the max light
out of each bulb you would need to mount the bulbs --
rather than || .. That means that you need to use water
proof sockets, and do something to keep the condensation
out of the wiring and sockets. Other than that it would
be a simple parallel wiring job and quite easy to do."

y would i need water proof socket covers when there is glass between the bulb and the water? could u be a little more specific?

Hi,
Yup ur right! However something like "Did you notice
the title," would have been kinder and more
than sufficiant.

That being said, I did not see that you had mentioned that
there would be a piece of glass between the bulbs and the
water. In one of the posts replying to you, it was
mentioned that someone had done this earlier and had
shown a picture of the homemade canopy without any
protective glass. I was merely trying to suggest the need
to keep the condensation out of the hood.

I apologize for under estimating your woodworking, and
electrical knowledge.

In the hood that was mentioned, the bulbs were mounted
perpendicular to the water surface which I tried to
show with the || symbols. I was simply suggesting
that you would get better coverage if you mounted
them parallel == to the water surface.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

srry for that i hit the wrong smily so my expresion wasnt properly conveyed. i am attempting to DiY a standard fixture so i dont really have alot of space to work with

well ive been searching and i found 2 suitable bulbs the first http://www.goodmart.com/products/74298.htm is a little taller then the hood but the rest is the second http://www.lampsplus.com/products/14803/? seems good but doesnt list the diameter and color temperature at any of th websites caarrying it so i guess i will go with 4 of the first and do a little modding to the hood, the total watts equals 168 or 3.1 watts per gallon. is that enough?

Hi,
Note the chart in this site you linked us to in an
earlier post:

http://www.1000bulbs.com/product.php?product=1086

You would want to stay in the upper part of the Kelvin
scale. I think the "white" light is in the lower section.
The 3+ watts of light will make CO2 injection very nearly
manditory for good plant growth.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

again i dont know wat ur talking about the bulb i picked out is in the 6500k range or daylight which is exactly wat the plants want

Hi,
Again, refering to your post:
"seems good but doesnt list the diameter and
color temperature at any of th websites caarrying it."

Yes, you opted, in the end, to purchase a bulb that was
in the higher range however I was simply elaborating on
two things, first - With the chart that you had at your
fingertips, http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/994/55galplanted3ar.jpg
I would never have even considered the first
bulb as it is too low on the chart. And second, others
read these posts and many of them need to know the "why"
behind the correct options.

By the way, that chart is an excellent reference and one
that (now that you have shown it to us) I have passed onto
others contemplating that style bulb.
Good work.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

well i didnt buy it yet because i thougt it would be more of a spot light at only 7 inches long

well i did alot of thinking/measuring and i realized that two 7 inch bulbs per hood isnt much less light surface area then my current bulbs so now i must find the cheapest bulb. so far the candidates are:

http://www.1000bulbs.com/product.php?product=1086
WATTS:3.1 watts/gallon
TOTAL:$50.60 + shipping

uuummmm....thats all i could find i guess unless i or someone elses stumbles upon something else i will go with these, heck its still alot cheaper then those "power compacts"


FRANK, i thought maybe this would be better to show light noobs
http://www.1000bulbs.com/page.php?s=KelvinTempExplained

or this

http://img326.imageshack.us/img326/1408/tube6af.gif

STAGE 2!!!!!!!!!!!

i went to menards and they had a 3-pack of 23watt, 6000k compact fluorescents for 10$ so i got two as well as 6 sockets and some wire

TOTAL:$31.63 for everything EXCEPT electrical tape and aquarium hoods

TOTAL WATTS PER GALLON:2.5

ha beat that!

FLORA
1.eleocharis acicularis (dawf hairgrass)
2.echindorus amazonicus (amazon sword)
3.alternanthera reineckii "roseafolia"
5.hygrophila difformis (wisteria)
7.rotala nanjenshen
8.heteranthera zosterfolia (stargrass)
9.cryptocoryne wendtii
10.glossostigma
11.vesiculara dubyana (java moss)?
12.monosolenium tenerum?

plant arangment has changed but im to lazy to make a sketch right now

FAUNA
1 discus?
2 angelfish
6 common hatchet
2 turquoise rainbow
4 iranian rainbow
4 bosmanni rainbow
5 albino cory
4 yoyo loach
1 farlowella or other algae eater



do u really think i need c02 injection? if so im gonna go with the soda bottle method

i understand the problems some people have with discus and angelfish together DONT WORRY this is just a concept

feedback needed badly!

Discus really should be kept in shoals of at least 3 so youd have to choose between the discus and the angels. Also, there has been a lot of controversy on this website on whether discus can be kept with angels or not because of the "discus plague" and what not.

here are some threads on the discus+angel controversy-

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/27955.1.htm?11#

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/27523.1.htm?4#

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/23525.1.htm?6#

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/584.1.htm?12#

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/20575.1.htm?4#

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/4453.1.htm?9#

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/679.1.htm?6#

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/681.1.htm?2#

I have just made a custom hood and purchased the tubes yesterday. Not just the K rating is important. Look on the side of the box for the colour spectrum graph. There it shows what colour light the tube will produce. You will find the 6500k you spoke of will be good for plants as it has a high green spike on the chart where a 10000k will be more yellow/red. In my hood i have added a 6000k a 18000k
7500k This mix covers a very wide range of the colour spectrum. Have fun

put a thermometer in the hood and left it there for an hour, it read 101F. to high?

ok......... moving on. i probably have the s@#tiest camera there is (this is the best picture of all of them but atleast it kind of shows how the light looks as you can see the light is actually quite spread out

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/8342/pdr16746ib.jpg

come on for real, wats with the lack of posts from u guys is it some sort of boycott?

u know wat fine! i dont need ur help ill do things on my own!!!

oh srry i didnt see those two posts i agree i think i will go with discus only though my focus is on plants right now

final plant update (hopefully)
wat i plan to order

hygrophila corymbosa "siamensis"
eleocharis acicularis (dawf hairgrass)
alternanthera reineckii "roseafolia"
hygrophila difformis (wisteria)
rotala nanjenshen
heteranthera zosterfolia (stargrass)
cryptocoryne wendtii
glossostigma?

wat i will buy at a store
echindorus amazonicus (amazon sword)
vesiculara dubyana (java moss)

ive heard glossostigma is really hard to get right especially with light lowere then 3wpg do u know anything that looks similar, stays low and doesnt take extra extra special care?

just to clarify i am looking for opinions on whether or not i should order in case there might be some problems

thank you

ok,i can understand y little fish isnt posting in this thread anymore (which i appologize for coming off a little rude) but how did i manage to offend everybody so that i am the only one responding? if u wont do it for me atlest do it for the fishies

final plant update (hopefully)
wat i plan to order

hygrophila corymbosa "siamensis"
eleocharis acicularis (dawf hairgrass)
alternanthera reineckii "roseafolia"
hygrophila difformis (wisteria)
rotala nanjenshen
heteranthera zosterfolia (stargrass)
cryptocoryne wendtii
glossostigma?

wat i will buy at a store
echindorus amazonicus (amazon sword)
vesiculara dubyana (java moss)

Some of the plants listed above are much more challanging than others. The rotala nanjenshen and alternanthera will require certain lighting and fert. conditions that you may not have considered in order to keep looking their best. Hairgrass can be a royal pain to plant. Amazon swords can grow huge, outgrowing a 55 gallon tank quickly and easily.

Also, have you considered an aquascape yet? How are you going to arrange these plants and how much of each kind you will order? Have you set up a hardscape with wood or rocks or gravel formations?

And where do you stand with livestock? Have you gotten the fish you listed on page 1 yet?

If you want to maximize your chance for success the things listed above must be considered before anything is bought or planted.

put a thermometer in the hood and left it there for an hour, it read 101F. to high?

It doesn't matter what the temp inside the hood is, what is the water temp?

---

Back in the saddle!

As LF said before, someone on here had a tank set up with the bulb style that you are thinking about but had to use a lot of them to make it work. You also would need a lot of space and be really good putting it all together. I would think that you would need to get fancy with how you wire it up too.

Spending the cash on the other option is nicer because you don't have to mess with it. Other than pluging it in and it takes up way less space.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Some of the plants listed above are much more challanging than others. The rotala nanjenshen and alternanthera will require certain lighting and fert. conditions that you may not have considered in order to keep looking their best. Hairgrass can be a royal pain to plant. Amazon swords can grow huge, outgrowing a 55 gallon tank quickly and easily.

Also, have you considered an aquascape yet? How are you going to arrange these plants and how much of each kind you will order? Have you set up a hardscape with wood or rocks or gravel formations?

And where do you stand with livestock? Have you gotten the fish you listed on page 1 yet?

Wingsdlc Wrote:
As LF said before, someone on here had a tank set up with the bulb style that you are thinking about but had to use a lot of them to make it work. You also would need a lot of space and be really good putting it all together. I would think that you would need to get fancy with how you wire it up too.

Spending the cash on the other option is nicer because you don't have to mess with it. Other than pluging it in and it takes up way less space.

i dropped the amazon sword but i still want the hair grass, what kind of light and ferts do the nanjenshen and alternanthera require? i am willing do extra work for them as they are my favorites of the bunch

i have designed an aquascape and hardscape but im not exactly sure how much of each to order

so far the only fish that i have currently and are definatly in the plans are
2 turquoise rainbow
3 bosemanni rainbow

i have already set up the new lights and they are working fine ( my dad is an electrical engineer so the wiring i trust is pretty decent). it actually looks alot better then you might think, not like spot lights at all in fact i cant tell a difference between the tubular fluorescent and the compacts besides the brightness i post some pics when i can get a hold of a camera

what kind of light and ferts do the nanjenshen and alternanthera require? i am willing do extra work for them as they are my favorites of the bunch

I do not have personal experience with either, but from research a constant supply of CO2 is one thing, and the best way to get it up to the required levels in a 55gallon and keep it steady would be to use pressurized CO2. Then lots of light... make that, lot's of bright, unshaded light. Then since they're red plants i would imagine they'd need a decent fert. dosing schedule, including enough iron to keep them nice and red.

They're definetely nice plants, worth a try but they do have special needs.

have designed an aquascape and hardscape but im not exactly sure how much of each to order

Start out with a lot. get more than you think you need. it'll help out in starting the new tank up.

---

Back in the saddle!

i guess ill hold off on the nanjenshen alteranthera until i get some more experience. what makes planting dwarf hair grass so hard?

got any advice on glossostigma anyone? i heard it can be tough to grow

also im reallly interested in diying a new filter as my current one doesnt quite cut it. what would u suggest, a fluidized bed filter maybe?

come on guys please, im trying to get my plants ordered but i dont want to buy them until i know the situation with the glosso

resle

Glosso works in two forms, either not at all or it grows rampant.

As you know, I am unable to evaluate your light situation, with regards to intensity. Glosso needs pretty high light to grow, and good nutrients as well. If your light is capabale of growing it then you will have to watch out that it doesn't spread everywhere and starts to suffocate all other plants. That's what happened in my tank. In addition, if not maintained properly (trimmed at least bi-weekly once it reached a stage where it has become a dense matt) it will suffocate itself. Mine was in the end 5 layers of Glosso on top of each other.

So, if you think your light is good enough, and you are willing for a little experiment, go buy some

Hope this helps,

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

well i think my light is bright enough but wat do i know i guess ill buy 1 plant and see what happens. here are the plants im going to order at aquatic plant depot

3 hygrophila corymbosa "siamensis"
4 hygrophila difformis (wisteria)
5 cryptocoryne wendtii
1 glossostigma

is this http://aquaticplantdepot.stores.yahoo.net/gianhyghygco.html the same as hygrophila corymbosa "siamensis"?

plants i already have:
java fern
java moss
alteranthera reineckii
unknown plant

plants i still need:
heteranthera zosterifola (stargrass)
dwarf hairgrass
rotala nanjenshen