Cheap lighting to good to be true?

[octopus44]

I am currently working on setting up a 55g planted tank. I would like to have a least 2watts per gallon but 3 wpg would be prefered.

After shopping around for a while I have discovered that lighting can be rather expensive.

I'm really anxious to set up my aquarium so I dont have the patience to save up for expensive lights.

So, my question is, are the cheaper lights that are available too good to be true? Will they break in a week or even worse burn down my house?

Here is an example of one of the better deals that I have found:
http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=293&HS=1

If this is not a good option does anyone have any other inexpensive ideas?

Any advice is appreaciated!

P.S. I dont mind if I have to buy new lighting in about a year. I just really want to get my new tank set up as soon as possible.

[Lady Hobbs]

That's a saltwater light I believe altho I don't know much about lights. Check out the others he offers. A 3 light fixture without the blue blubs would give you more than the 3 watts per gallon you want. Nice site. I need lights myself so thanks for the good link.

According to this ad, they are tossing in one white and one blue light so you'll have to buy the others.

Back to say this is a great site!!!! I've been wanting a 65 watt 24 inch and have been pricing them at around $70. Great prices here. I may order the 48 inch 2 white lights for my 55 gallon. That would be nearly 3 watts per gallon.

[octopus44]

Even if I had to buy new bulbs it would still be cheaper than what I have seen elsewhere.

I am just worried that it will break on me.

[nanaglen2001]

Just check if the bulbs of this lamps are compatible with Osram bulbs (means if Osram bulbs fit into this equipement).

Osram has lots of different "lightcolors" including special bulbs for planted tanks.

Now lighting an aquarium is a science for itself:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Lady Hobbs]

What confuses me is the legs to these lights! I've read several places that you don't use the legs over glass tops. Well.........???????? What do you do, leave the top off the tank? My fish would jump out.

[sergo]

What confuses me is the legs to these lights! I've read several places that you don't use the legs over glass tops. Well.........???????? What do you do, leave the top off the tank? My fish would jump out.use a thin sheet of lexan (plexiglass) and cut just enough out for the feet to attach and for filter clearance.

[Lady Hobbs]

Really? I wanted to use all glass tops and place my lights on the glass but I guess too many watts would heat the tank too much or break the glass? Won't the plexiglass get cloudy and icky looking. Why don't they make tops that can be used with these? Let me know if you want me to ask you even more questions! LOL

[hungryhound]

I am currently working on setting up a 55g planted tank. I would like to have a least 2watts per gallon but 3 wpg would be prefered.

After shopping around for a while I have discovered that lighting can be rather expensive.

I'm really anxious to set up my aquarium so I dont have the patience to save up for expensive lights.

So, my question is, are the cheaper lights that are available too good to be true? Will they break in a week or even worse burn down my house?

Here is an example of one of the better deals that I have found:
http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=293&HS=1

If this is not a good option does anyone have any other inexpensive ideas?

Any advice is appreaciated!

P.S. I dont mind if I have to buy new lighting in about a year. I just really want to get my new tank set up as soon as possible.

I have never heard of this brand but the bulbs alone are worth 99 dollars. Keep in mind that you would need to replace the actinic bulbs for a planted tank which could cost you between 30 and 80 dollars depending on which brand you went with. I do not know if it would break or not, but it could be worth it.

One thing to keep in mind, is that light has some serious power. It would give you close to 4.5 watts per gallon. You would need pressurized CO2 to keep the algae away.

I have 192 watts over a 46 gallon tank, but I can only run one 96 watt bulb with my DIY CO2 system because of algae. I need CO@ but it is not in the budget. (stupid shrimp tank).

[Lady Hobbs]

The most expensive bulb I'm seeing is $24.

[hungryhound]

The coralifes are 27.99 at bigalsonline. So it looks like I over estimated a little. I know my 96 watt bulbs that are one size up are 50 dollars at my LFS, and went from there.

On line he should be able to get them for 30 to 60 dollars plus shipping. keep in mind that it has two actinic bulbs and he would want to replace both of them. The price I was quoting reflected buying two bulbs.

[octopus44]

I do plan on getting CO2 in the future but like you its not in my budget right now. Actually no aquarium equipment is in my budget but having an aquarium is more important than being financially responsible : )

With this fixture I can just use the 2 65 watt bublbs for now and then buy some more when i get CO2.

I am new to planted tanks and lighting. Will the 2 non-blue bulbs that it comes with work well for a planted tank?

Thanks for the input.

[hungryhound]

I do plan on getting CO2 in the future but like you its not in my budget right now. Actually no aquarium equipment is in my budget but having an aquarium is more important than being financially responsible : )

With this fixture I can just use the 2 65 watt bublbs for now and then buy some more when i get CO2.

I am new to planted tanks and lighting. Will the 2 non-blue bulbs that it comes with work well for a planted tank?

Thanks for the input.

That would work. You could just run the two 65 watt 12,000 K bulbs until you got CO2. You still may want to invest in a DIY CO2 system that can be made for 20 to 30 bucks.

The problem with the actinic blue lights is that the light they produce is in the Blue spectrum (go figure), which plants do not have receptors to harness for photosynthesis. Most photosynthetic receptors on plants are for the red and yellow light waves, which your 12,000 K bulbs should provide nicely.

Eventually when they need to be replaced you may want to get 10,000 K bulbs as they are more of a normal fresh water plant bulb, but the 12,000 K should work.

The light should work though, but without any form of co2 going into it you will have to worry about algae. The big mistake I made was that i did not have enough fast growing stem plants at the beginning. This will go a long way in keeping your chances of an algae outbreak down.

[octopus44]

That would work. You could just run the two 65 watt 12,000 K bulbs until you got CO2. You still may want to invest in a DIY CO2 system that can be made for 20 to 30 bucks.

The problem with the actinic blue lights is that the light they produce is in the Blue spectrum (go figure), which plants do not have receptors to harness for photosynthesis. Most photosynthetic receptors on plants are for the red and yellow light waves, which your 12,000 K bulbs should provide nicely.

Eventually when they need to be replaced you may want to get 10,000 K bulbs as they are more of a normal fresh water plant bulb, but the 12,000 K should work.

The light should work though, but without any form of co2 going into it you will have to worry about algae. The big mistake I made was that i did not have enough fast growing stem plants at the beginning. This will go a long way in keeping your chances of an algae outbreak down.

Plants do use blue light for photosynthesis. It is the green light which they do not use.

Are there any good articles you recommend for making a CO2 system?

I don’t plan on having any fast growing stem plants in my aquarium is this going to create big algae problems? I am going to have java moss, java fern, some tall and short grasses, clovers for ground cover and maybe something else.

[Drumachine09]

use a thin sheet of lexan (plexiglass) and cut just enough out for the feet to attach and for filter clearance.


lol, lexan is "bullet proof glass". Dont think fish can get through that!

[nanaglen2001]

To get your tank properly started as a planted tank you fisrt need those fast growing stuff to eat up all the nitrates, phosphates and whatever you will have in abundance in your water while the tank is setting up the chemical balance.

If you start with those much more slower growing plants, you will get an algae problem.

After some weeks you can start changing the fast growing stuff for the slower ones, but not too quickly.

In some months you may have all the plants you want, and only here and there some algae.

If I remember correctly it took me about 3 or 4 months going from fast growers to Nymphaea lotus to Java fern and Echinodorus.

My plants grow nicely, even though I dont use CO2 and dont know how much Kelvin my bulbs produce:14:

[hungryhound]

Plants do use blue light for photosynthesis. It is the green light which they do not use.

I doubt that 10 percent of all the light used for photosynthesis is blue light. They might use some, but if you used only actinic your plants would die.



Are there any good articles you recommend for making a CO2 system?

I no longer have links for any of the ones that I used. But check the DIY section, there are a couple of threads in there and if you get stuck ask questions.



I don’t plan on having any fast growing stem plants in my aquarium is this going to create big algae problems? I am going to have java moss, java fern, some tall and short grasses, clovers for ground cover and maybe something else.

nanaglen2001 pretty much answered this question.

[Chrona]

Up to you if you want to try the light. I have heard of issues with ballasts breaking on cheaper fixtures, but your mileage may vary. 260 watts is also way too much light without a pressurized CO2 system. Even 130 will be borderline and it's highly recommended you either make a large DIY system or go pressurized.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=9871&N=2004+113345

30 bucks more, and comes with the bulbs you need already. Coralife is a good company with great customer service. You can probably find this particular fixture for cheaper elsewhere too.

Plants do benefit from actinic lights, but only as supplements once main lighting needs are met. Sure it provides blue light, and technically, if you look at the light spectrum absorption charts for chloropyhyll A and B, you'll see that one of the peaks is right about 460nm. However, the issue is that actinic lights are not very bright, meaning they do not have sufficient intensity to really even factor into the w/g rule.

The K rating is not really that important. All it does is give you a general idea of what the bulb spectrum is (6700-10000k are usually full spectrum, which is why those bulbs are usually recommended) and have no significant bearing on the actual wavelengths of light produced. A mix of 6700k and 10000k is generally thought to look the best.

Nanaglen is right, with a high tech setup, you pack the tank with fast growers at the beginning to avoid algae. Also run carbon and ammonia removing filter media. The fast stem plants come out later on slowly as you replace more and more of them with slower growing plants.

Imo glass tops are better. They don't scratch as easily as acrylic. Since I intern at a polycarbonates company, it was easier for me to get one cut out of it though :P

[octopus44]

Thanks for the link Chrona. That looks like it may be a better fixture to buy. Will 2.3 wpg be enough light to grow a ground cover of clovers or something similar?

What is a good fast growing stem plant that can be pruned liberally?

This hobby is really teaching me to be patient. I want my tank to look how I want it to look now, but I guess i have to accept the fact that thats not going to happen.

Thanks for all the great advice everyone.

[Chrona]

Thanks for the link Chrona. That looks like it may be a better fixture to buy. Will 2.3 wpg be enough light to grow a ground cover of clovers or something similar?

What is a good fast growing stem plant that can be pruned liberally?

This hobby is really teaching me to be patient. I want my tank to look how I want it to look now, but I guess i have to accept the fact that thats not going to happen.

Thanks for all the great advice everyone.

Depends on what kind of clover you are referring to. If it's the marsilea sp, then yes. Marsilea grow even in low light. Marsilea minuta and hirsuta in particular, stays low in low light. Bear in mind it grows pretty slowly, so you want to add it after the whole algae phase. Groundcovers like glosso and dwarf hairgrass require fairly high lighting to stay compact and to spread.

Most varieties of hygrophila will do fine. Also water sprite. Just get a big bundle of the stuff from a fellow hobbyists over at the swap and shop section of plantedtank.net

Actually that ideal tank can happen very quickly, like within 3 weeks or so, but it all requires a decent financial investment :)

[octopus44]

Depends on what kind of clover you are referring to. If it's the marsilea sp, then yes. Marsilea grow even in low light. Marsilea minuta and hirsuta in particular, stays low in low light. Bear in mind it grows pretty slowly, so you want to add it after the whole algae phase. Groundcovers like glosso and dwarf hairgrass require fairly high lighting to stay compact and to spread.

I much prefer the glosso over marsilea. How many WPG do you think I will need to grow that?

As far as getting the tank started should I only put fast growing stem plants in and then put the slower plants in later? Or can I Put the slower growing plants in along with the stem plants? I plan on having some grasses, java fern, java moss, glosso and maybe one stem plant.

[Chrona]

I much prefer the glosso over marsilea. How many WPG do you think I will need to grow that?

As far as getting the tank started should I only put fast growing stem plants in and then put the slower plants in later? Or can I Put the slower growing plants in along with the stem plants? I plan on having some grasses, java fern, java moss, glosso and maybe one stem plant.

Glosso can grow in medium light, but it will grow up and not form the dense carpet you want. It's rather finicky, and oftentimes, still doesn't stay low with 4+ wpg and pressurized CO2 sometimes. Plus it has a relatively small root system so it pulls out easily until you get a dense mat. If you are starting off, I'd say stick with marsilea. You can try glosso, but just my two cents. I have both in my tank.

[octopus44]

Yeah your probably right. Since this is my first planted tank I should probably just go with the marsilea. The glosso looks so good though. Do you have any pics of the marsilea in your tank?

When i first start the tank can I plant the slow growing plants along with fast stem plants or should I wait to put the slow growing plants in after the tank has been a little more stabilized?

[Chrona]

I don't have a recent pic, but I've got a thread in the plant section somewhere. It got pretty dense, then I sent a chunk to a fellow forumer. I would just put the fast growing in at first until things settle.

[Algenco]

I don't have a recent pic, but I've got a thread in the plant section somewhere. It got pretty dense, then I sent a chunk to a fellow forumer. I would just put the fast growing in at first until things settle.


And it's very happy in it's new home:hmm3grin2orange: