# 40 breeder lighting upgrade or help me fight HLD! see most recent post



## spypet (Sep 15, 2006)

I would use your 30" fixture on the 40gal breeder.
I recommend getting acrylic rods to suspend the
fixture legs near center on the tank like I did with
my 24" fixture on a 30gal breeder. the smaller tank
will also save you on substrate and filter capacity.
a 40gal breeder still has an appealing display value,
while those 50gal dimensions will appear too short.
many consider the 40gal breeder to have the most
perfect planted tank proportions of any size tank.

I'd go with one 50lb bag of Soilmaster and one
Rena XP3 Filter. No need to bother with heaters.
with so little light, DIY Co2 would be pointless.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Thanks for the post spypet. The acrylic rods are a really good idea that I may end up using but my initial thoughts were to plant the right rear corner to about mid way in the tank and then have plants working their way down to the end of the fixture. The rest of the tank Im thinking of having some random stones on sand with either moss or pellia. 

Do you find that the shortness or lack of full lighting has any detriment to general viewing of the tank? Any totally obvious dark spots around the edges and such? 

As far as the CO2 goes I mainly consider that not as much for the plants but for helping to keep the PH in a lower range at least in this application. 

And really an XP3? I was initially thinking XP2 but I know lots of folks suggest over filtration... I'm not 100% sure on the stocking yet but this indeed may end up being a CPD breeder/growout tank so it might not be a bad idea at all. 

Do you have any pics of your 30G breeder that you can share for reference?


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Resurrecting this thread a bit. Decided to go with the 40 breeder and I'm slowly starting to get order lists together. Starting with plumbing/filtration now but lighting is not far behind. 

I've decided to not use the 2x24W fixture with this tank as its still doing good things with my 20G and rather leave it there for extra juice at this point. So that leaves me looking for a budget fixture for the new tank. I'd like as much coverage as possible but I do really like the output of the Current Nova Extreme T5HO fixtures... only thing is they sit right on top of the tank and I fear that will leave dark spots front to back with the 18 inch depth. 
In the 36" size I have 2 options in the HO category from current:
2x39W Does not have noisy fans
4x39W Does have noisy fans from what I read

I'm still basically going to be going the same direction with the tank, mainly low light plants with the exception of Dwarf Hairgrass... Think given the tank depth (16") that the 2x39W would be able to support hairgrass as a carpet in a 40G? 
My thinking is that if I go with the smaller fixture then decide to upgrade lighting later I'll just get another 2x39 and place one in the back/one in the front for better coverage. I just need to figure out if the light intensity is going to do the job.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Bumping my own old topic instead of recreating. Its forum recyling, doing my part to stay green haha. 

So after looking into my options I switched gears majorly on this tank and went with a pressurized CO2 setup with aquasoil and a 2x96W PC Current Orbit fixture with 2 dual daylight bulbs. I've been running the front lamp for 8 hours with the second lamp for 4-5 hours.

Tank is up and stable, algae is minimal. All seems well with this setup but for some reason I feel like I'm just not getting good coverage over the 18" of width so much so that I've added another 2x24W T5HO fixture to the front to help the carpet develop. 

I've been wanting to ditch the PC fixture and go with either a 4 bulb T5HO fixture or 1-2 MH fixtures from fishneedit. I'm at that point where I've read so many opinions from searches and researching that I can't decide. Tanks is 36"Lx18"Wx16"D. 
Go 1 MH of higher wattage and hang the fixture higher?
Go 2 MH of lower wattage
Go 1 MH with a couple of 2 bulb T5HO fixtures together?
A single 4 bulb T5HO fixture? 
Stick with what I have and buy a set of hangers and raise that puppy up and run both bulbs for 8 hours? 

Blarghhhh!


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## t0p_sh0tta (Jan 24, 2008)

I'm actually in the same situation myself. I have a 40B with the same 30" Current fixture.

I've acquired my pressurized setup and everything else, except for the light. If I were you, I'd probably find a way to keep the current fixtures (just for $$$ sake). I thought about running 2 70w MH fixtures, but that's a a lot of light for a shallow tank, and I'm still new to this. The single higher output lamp sounds good, but I'd be concerned with coverage in the corners.


I'm probably going to settle on a hanging fixture such as the fishneedit, or drop a few $$$ on something a little higher end. I really like the look of the Current Nova Extreme lights, but 6x39w is a TON of light. Catalina's 4x39w is nice also, but it bugs me that it's almost $100 more than the 48" light.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Why not a 4 bulb TEK fixture and hang it up? Although 2 MH would create a nice effect. Probably 2 70 watters. 

Craig


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

You can't beat a MH, one 150w hung 12 to 16" or so above would look nice
with a nice affect.


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## t0p_sh0tta (Jan 24, 2008)

^ Would a single MH provide sufficient coverage for a 36"x18" tank?

Hmm... Most of the 6' tanks that I see run 3 fixtures.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Well I have to say if I can get decent light coverage and enough intensity down to substrate level with a single 150W MH that will be bangin'. I could scoop that up and save the 36" 2x96w for another project down the road. 

In my thread travels I think it was CMlaracy that was running a single pendant on his 75P? Isn't that a fairly similar size to the 40G?


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

i love 40g's they have the perfect dimensions.

well if you're gonna go with MH id probably say get 2, it'll be better than 1 giant bulb, and it'll give you better spread.

I've seen some of the catalina and the tek fixtures and they look really really bright. if you definitely wanted to upgrade then get the 4 t5HO and try and hang it a bit higher if you need more light you can always lower it or vise versa. besides you're already running pressurissed CO2 so you shouldnt have too much trouble keeping up with the new light.


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

A single fixture is all you'll need, 40B is short 13" raw. 150MH is a lot of light.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Craigthor: I've been on the lookout for a decent price on a used 36" 4 bulb Tek for a long time but haven't found anything, its hard for me to put that much money in a new fixture when I can get the same performance with something ~1/4 the price. I just don't allow myself that much of a hobby budget.  

Craig: I'm going to pull the trigger on the 150W MH fixture tomorrow unless I run into anything crazy in my research today. I trust your judgment. From base to top my tank is ~17" high though... but factoring in substrate and the fact that its not filled to the very rim thats about right. So considering the height of the fixture and the intensity that these things throw I wouldn't be cutting myself short replacing a 2x96W PC fixture with this single right?


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## t0p_sh0tta (Jan 24, 2008)

^ What MH fixtures are you considering? I really like the price on the Fishneedit units, but I'm not sure of whatever else is out there.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

top_shotta: Only this one bro. I've always read good reviews on these fixtures and now they even have a electronic ballast.

Now I need to decide which bulb to get included... thinking the 8k one now but gotta read more after lunch. :O


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

MrJG said:


> Craig: So considering the height of the fixture and the intensity that these things throw I wouldn't be cutting myself short replacing a 2x96W PC fixture with this single right?


Set the tank up with the fixture hanging so you can adjust it height wise up
and down to find the sweet spot, like using a magnifying glass.
I use a 150MH and it's bright, lights up the hole room, need sunglasses to work
on the tank... 


MrJG said:


> top_shotta: Only this one bro. I've always read good reviews on these fixtures and now they even have a electronic ballast.
> 
> Now I need to decide which bulb to get included... thinking the 8k one now but gotta read more after lunch. :O


That is a good price, I paid much more, but I did get a good ballast, I use the ADA 8000k bulb. love'm. you can't get that look from any other type of light.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

I'll have to buy some sunglasses now I guess.  Ordered the fixture before lunch today with one of the 8k bulbs.

As far as the price I'd normally say you get what you pay for... but I've read nothing but good reviews from everywhere on these fixtures. That and they now have an electronic ballast. Previously I think they had magnetic ones.


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## MarkMc (Apr 27, 2007)

Wö£fëñxXx said:


> Set the tank up with the fixture hanging so you can adjust it height wise up
> and down to find the sweet spot, like using a magnifying glass.
> I use a 150MH and it's bright, lights up the hole room, need sunglasses to work
> on the tank...
> ...


How often do you replace your bulbs and how much is an ADA bulb?


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

I don't replace them often, usually when they blow. bulbs are expensive.
Those particular bulbs are $100ea now.

Retailer's would love it if you replaced them every 6 months.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Fixture arrived today. I probably wont be able to rig up some hangers until the weekend so I just test fired it real quick and held it over the tank for a minute to see... it seems really really dim compared to the 2x96W Pc fixture. Maybe I'm just too accustomed to the look. Do these things have to warm up for a while or are my eyes just used to the different source? I only had it on for a minute or two.

Edit: oh yea It didn't come with one of the little screens to hang in the front, can someone point me to someplace to get one of those?


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