# Lighting for shrimp tank...



## wayneside (Jun 17, 2008)

what type of lighting do you guys use for your shrimp tanks?


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## oblongshrimp (Jul 26, 2006)

shop lights or the coralife T5 fixtures (the NO ones)


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## wayneside (Jun 17, 2008)

what does NO mean? sorry sorry!


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## modemfox (Nov 9, 2007)

wayneside said:


> what does NO mean? sorry sorry!


NO = Normal Output
HO = High Output
VHO = Very High Output
CF= Compact Florescent
MH = Metal Halide

The T rating on normal bulbs is its size compared to an inch. Like a T8 is one inch around for instance.

The k rating is a bulbs color 6700K looks a little yellow and as the number increases such as 10000K it will have more of a blueish color or bright white depending on your eyes and the enviroment it is in.


Sorry about giving you more than you asked for. Its just a habit to try to help people with decisions. I cant really help with the shrimp question though, I keep mine under CF 6700K and CF 10000K bulbs at roughly 3 watts per gallon of light in my planted tanks with my fish.


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## oblongshrimp (Jul 26, 2006)

I dont use ferts or CO2 in my shrimp tanks the coralife lights give off a decent amount of light (grows moss and pellia well) but not so much as to cause algae.


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## wayneside (Jun 17, 2008)

awesome info...very helpful!!! thank you...


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

I have a 96wt Coralife fixture on my 29 shrimp tank.


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## TJT (Jun 8, 2008)

oblongshrimp said:


> I dont use ferts or CO2 in my shrimp tanks the coralife lights give off a decent amount of light (grows moss and pellia well) but not so much as to cause algae.


Are ferts bad for shrimp? or is it you just dont use them, im just curious.


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## wayneside (Jun 17, 2008)

fshfanatic said:


> I have a 96wt Coralife fixture on my 29 shrimp tank.


got a pic?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

I use Walmart one $10 clip on desk lamp for my 15G and 2 of those for my 20G, as for the bulbs, I use Phillips spiral daylight energy saving 27W 6500K. Plants grow like crazy.


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## wayneside (Jun 17, 2008)

mysticalnet said:


> I use Walmart one $10 clip on desk lamp for my 15G and 2 of those for my 20G, as for the bulbs, I use Phillips spiral daylight energy saving 27W 6500K. Plants grow like crazy.


good idea...didnt even think of that.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

wayneside said:


> good idea...didnt even think of that.


Don't forget to get "Daylight" though, don't get soft white or anything else, the spectrum on those are not suitable for plant growth, only the daylight one is good.


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## wayneside (Jun 17, 2008)

got the bulbs and a clip light today but went ahead and ordered a coralife double fixture. had a target giftcard from christmas so ended up using it to get the lights...hehehe.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

wayneside said:


> got the bulbs and a clip light today but went ahead and ordered a coralife double fixture. had a target giftcard from christmas so ended up using it to get the lights...hehehe.


 Good luck on your shrimp tank!


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## wayneside (Jun 17, 2008)

mysticalnet - your idea is working great...the coralife fixture i purchased has not come in yet and i have been using the clip light and the daylight bulb and it seems to be working just fine! thank you for the idea!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

wayneside said:


> mysticalnet - your idea is working great...the coralife fixture i purchased has not come in yet and i have been using the clip light and the daylight bulb and it seems to be working just fine! thank you for the idea!


 
no problem!  Glad to have been of help!


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## wayneside (Jun 17, 2008)

i'm actually using one on my 29 gal as well as a supplemental light. my plants seem to be getting even more green so it has to be helping!


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## wayneside (Jun 17, 2008)

just got my coralife fixture in...i was paranoid because the packaging was all kinds of bent up but it turned out fine. the light is alot better than i expected...its super bright! the only thing is that the shrimp keep hiding now in the wood and plants...could it be too bright? i got the normal output double fixture...


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

I find that my shrimps don't like too bright a light, if you have a heavily planted tank then that's ok because they can hide under the plants. 



wayneside said:


> just got my coralife fixture in...i was paranoid because the packaging was all kinds of bent up but it turned out fine. the light is alot better than i expected...its super bright! the only thing is that the shrimp keep hiding now in the wood and plants...could it be too bright? i got the normal output double fixture...


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