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I bought the Walmart 30gal kit two years ago. I haven't replaced the flourescent bulb since then. I want to grow live plants in my tank and should probably replace the bulb. Problem is, I dont remember which replacement bulb to buy or how many watts my hood can handle. Does anyone out there have the 30gal kit too that could help me? Do I need to go back to Walmart to buy one, or can I go to Pets Mart?

I have a 30 gallon that my girlfriend bought from wal-mart a couple of years ago. I recently replaced the bulb. The one that was in there was a 24" 20 watt.

I have the same kit.....it is 24" 20 watt. I have live plants in my tank that are doing pretty well with the lights that came with the kit. The plants that I have are listed as medium light (Aponogeton) and HIGH light(nymphaea lily) both plant types are growing pretty well, so don't spend tons of money on a replacement bulb....you should be able to grow most low/medium light plants just fine. I'm getting ready to add a lot more plants so I have recently spent a lot of time researching this very topic.

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Thanks for replying. So its 24" 20W. Hmm, for growing plants someone told me that I needed 2 to 3 watts per gallon. Is this true? If it is true, then wouldnt the 20W bulb be insufficient?


Also, I'm looking at the Pets Mart website. Is there any partical brand that is better?

And another Q, how do I get the light bulb out? I dont wanna break it but its not an easy thing that just screws right out.

Last edited by fish007 at 05-Oct-2005 09:15

The pins hold it in there, and you just pull firmly and outwardly at each end of the bulb and it pops right out. I have heard the wpg rule on lighting for plants and I seem to be defying it. For how long....I don't know. In my research, the only way to bump the lighting up in this particular tank kit would be to get a power compact lighting strip. There are two that I was eyeballing, one is 1 bulb @ 36W it was $42.49(US)and the other was 1 bulb @ 65W it was $60.19 (US). The dimensions were 24"L x 5"W x 2.5"H. That would fit on the canopy that came with the kit. I decided to hold off. My med. and high light plants are thriving with my current set-up so I saw no need to jump on it yet.....especially since I will be getting a big tank (120) for Christmas and I need to start directing my cash flow that way.

Last edited by crazyred at 05-Oct-2005 14:05

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

20 watts on a 30 gallon will barely even be enough to have low light plants make much headway.
The best thing to do in this case if you want plants for this tank is to work on upgrading the lighting as was mentioned. Fluorescent lighting isn't like incandescent where you can simply change a 40 watt bulb to a 75 watt bulb by screwing a new bulb in. With fluorescent lenght = wattage and there's just no way to change it.
I suggest looking for a new cover to the tank (the bit that goes between the lights and the water). Most all LFS's sell glass canopys to fit standard sized tanks...this will allow more of the surface of the tank to be used for transmitting light to the plants wheras the standard canopy only allows a few inches of the light to shine thru.
The next step is to look at upgrading the actual fixture of the light itself to take more bulbs. Keep in mind when ordering a new fixture that whatever bulbs they take witll have to be replaced yearly as a minimum sometimes as much as twice yearly. Just because a fluorescent bulb isnt worn out to our eyes doesnt mean that it isnt worn out to the plants. Bulbs normally lose a lot of what the plants need in six months to a year.

The type of bulb you need for live plants will be 6500K Daylight bulbs as a minimum. Anything lower wont really provide the right type of light.


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If I buy a glass canopy, then where do I put the lights if I buy a new fixture? Just place it ontop of the glass?

And how many watts does this fixture produce ?

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=23831&category_id=1853&pcid1=1843

Last edited by fish007 at 16-Oct-2005 20:04

40 Watts

It is 2 x 20W in the hood.

I started off with this hood on my 29G and it gave me a decent growth.

How long is a 30G again? 36" ? (what are the other dimensions?)

My 29G is 30" long and if you want to see the transition I made with it from the 40W to a 65W fixture you can look [link=Here]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Aquascaping/61406.html" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link].

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hmm so 40 watts would still be insufficient. Could you point me to where I can find a 65 watt fixture?