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[font color="#000080"]Well, first off all - Hello to all of you[/font]

This is my first post and I guess like most of the newbies I will start with a question. I have only 3 months of experience with my 29G planted freshwater tank and like it so much that I would like to expand (MTS already? ). I envision an AGA 125G with an area of 72x18 (freshwater also).

I am sure that I will have many questions in the future, but I will torture you later with the rest . Today, I am concerned about a general lighting issue. I favor the idea of Compact Fluorescents and I am researching various on-line stores to see what is out there. I exclusively find options that combine 1 or 2 regular PC (10,000k or less) with 1 Actinic Blue in the fixture.

Now, from my readings, I am not aware that the actinic does anything reasonable to a planted aquarium. Am I wrong?
If I am, then how about the usability of actinics when evaluating your watts/gallon for plant growth? Are all watts created equal?

Thanks,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Welcome to FP!

Please wipe your feet.


Most power compact set-ups are geared towards marine reef tanks, hence they come standard with 10,000K/ actinic lighting. These lights are good for delivering to corals the high intensity lighting needed to penetrate better to the bottom of the tank and simulate the tropic sun. For freshwater plants, however, they don't do much good (at least actinics don't - 10,000K bulbs will grow plants fine, but they will give the tank a washed-out and generally unpleasing look). There are many PC bulbs out there in the 6700K range, and these will be best for lighting a planted freshwater tank. They should be readily available from most vendors online - I suggest Big Al's, since they have the best prices I've seen. You'll probably wind up having to buy a light strip with whatever bulbs are provided, and buy the 6700K bulbs seperately. Before buying the bulbs, however, make sure you find out if the hood requires a bulb with square pins like this "::", or straight pins like this "...."

Last edited by NowherMan6 at 20-May-2005 10:44

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Back in the saddle!

Thanks NowherMan6,

Your information basically confirmed my findings. I happened to stumble upon one brand that let's you pick a fresh- or saltwater setup, but I didn't really like the specific type of PC hood. Wouldn't it be nice if all manufacturers (or shopping sites) would let you select the lights you want?

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Wouldn't it be nice if all manufacturers (or shopping sites) would let you select the lights you want?

<sigh> Yes, yes it would. Don't hold your breath, though...

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Back in the saddle!

Hi,
While the suggestions are absolutely correct, if you can,
you might want to consider what you are going to do with
the tank.

If you are going to have a well planted tank, then by all
means use the Power Compact Flourscents. They will easily
provide you the Watts Per Gallon (WPG) necessary to grow
nearly any plant.

However, if you are only going to have
a token few plants, or a Fish Only tank, then that is
a large expense that you don't need to make.
A simple shop light (2 or 4 tube) from the nearest hardware
store with a couple of flourscent bulbs will work just
as well and cost far less. While purchasing
the light, buy flourscent bulbs marked DAYLIGHT or SUNLIGHT.
Do NOT buy anything that is labeled "Warm" or "COOL" or
"READING" bulbs. They are designed for reading and lack
the "glare" of outside sunlight. Going the shop light
way will give you around 1-1.5 WPG which is good for
low light demand plants.

If, after having the tank for a while you decide to really
plant it, then you can simply shift the "shop lights" out
to the work bench in the garrage and then purchase the
Compact Flourscents.

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 20-May-2005 13:09

Last edited by FRANK at 20-May-2005 13:10

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

Frank,

Thanks a lot for your elaborate response, in particular the recommendations on types (DAYLIGHT etc.) and achieved wattage.

I think I would like to have a well planted tank from the get-go, given that it will take a while until the plants reach the size to really fill the tank. So I am targeting at least 3 WPG for the 125G, means either 4x96W or 6x65W.

If I may, I would like to tag on another question. Given that I envision a 72 inches long tank, I would have various hood stacking options available like 2x36, 3x24, 1x72 just to name a few. It seems to me that using multiple individual PC hoods would allow me to easier maintain the tank, for example I could take one glass cover off and work in the tank while still having the light available on the 2 remaining sections. I am aware that 3 units could conclude in 9 power cords that would need to be connected to a timer, so it could get a little crowded behind the tank.
My main concern is that the cooling fans would not work appropriately, given that one would suck in the air from the unit right next to it. Does anyone have any experience with this? Maybe offsetting the middle unit to be farther in the back?

I somehow feel that one 72 inches long "monster" would be hard to handle.

Thanks again Frank for your feedback so far,

Ingo

Last edited by Little_Fish at 20-May-2005 14:20

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi Ingo,
Actually you bring up good points...
First, given the plant comments, I would use a substrate
such 100% Flourite, or some similiar plant supporting
substrate. Be sure it's 3-4 inches thick. Here is a
site to calculate how much substrate you will need for
any depth:
http://www.plantedtank.net/substratecalculator.html

Up until now and your comments, I always figured that
when I got my two, 240G tanks, I would purchase "A"
72 inch hood with multiple compact flourscent bulbs
for each tank and simply lift it off the tank when it
was time to do any maintenance.
Or, hang them from the ceiling over the tank and
use plastic "egg crate" as a top.

Having three would probably not be a good idea as that
would probably mean you would have two towards the front
of the tank, and one offset to the rear. That would give
uneven lighting to the tank and can bring interesting algae
patterns.

Two hoods containing two or four bulbs, that were
slighly less than 3 ft long would be ideal. The hood
that I have is about 2 ft long and holds two bulbs (30G
Tank). The fan on my hood could easily be remounted so that
the both had fans on either the inside or both on the
on the outside and that would resolve drawing warm air from
one hood to cool the other. Or, simply turn one of the hoods
around so that the switches were facing the front instead
of the back.

By The Way... I got so caught up in my first response,
that I neglected to say "HI" and Welcome to FP!
Please, no matter what the question, feel free to ask.
You will be amazed at the cumulative knowledge our members
have.

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 20-May-2005 16:55

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

Frank,

Thank you so much for your detailed advice. See, I didn&#8217;t even think about
the possibility of uneven lighting when setting back the middle unit. So, I
guess two 30 in units should do the trick then.

Well, after some online-store research, this would create a problem because
the max wattage for 30 in was 2x65 when looking at PC strip lights. With
2 units, that would sum up to 260W and as such clearly less than 3 WPG.
In addition, one advantage of having three lights is that none of the units
would be placed over the 2 crossbars that stabilize the AGA 125G (and as
such block the light).

I guess I will have to do some more thinking until I find the best solution (for me) .
Maybe I will have to consider metal Halides, although these things scare me
because of their heat production.

Again, thanks Frank,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi Ingo,
Personally, I would stay away from metal Halide lights
for a fresh water aquarium. If you use the pendant style
ones they have a "foot print" of about a foot and a half to
two feet. They give off large amounts of heat, use lots of
electricity, the bulbs should be changed every six
months as they age rather rapidly, and they don't give off
light of the right "temperature" for plants. They are
fine for Salt Water tanks that house various forms of algae,
and inverterbrates.

"A" six foot hood using compact flourscents would work just
fine. It might be awkward lifting it on and off the tank,
but once off, it would give you full access to the tank for
cleaning, scraping, and planting.

Another option "might" be a hood that uses the T-5 bulbs.
These flourscent bulbs are only 5/8 of an inch in diameter,
are available in several Temperatures (Degrees Kelvin), and
I believe - can come in lengths up to 6 feet.

Frank


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

Ingo,

Reconsider the 72 inch fixture and talk to your LFS or to the mail order house. My LFS replaced the 10000K and actinic bulbs that were with the fixture to 6700K bulbs from other fixtures at no cost. It turned out to be beneficial for them as they had a demand for the bulbs in the shorter fixtures.

Bottom line is ask, the worst that they can say is no.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Frank and Bob,

Thanks for your advice. Both of you suggest the 72in fixture and
this solution creates the least hassle in the setup decision process.

Nevertheless, I can already see myself in front of the tank, lifting this
6 feet long "monster" off, and then crashing it into the ceiling or wall.
Or stepping on it!!! ]

Bob, you are right, I should give the "seller" a call to find out if they
replace the bulb with an appropriate one. It's worth a try.

Thanks again,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club