# Lighting for the odd size tank



## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

OK, I think I'm ready to begin equiping the 59 gallon tank (photo in the It's My Aquariummiversary thread) and I'm proably going to have a custom hood made by Pet Supply Liquidators.

I'm having a heck of a time trying to decide how much light is enough. I'm not looking for a supercharged tank, just one that grows nicely, not a fast tank. 

Part of the question has to do with reflectors. I doubt that PSL has reflectors as good as the AHSupply kit I have on the 29 gallon for 1.9 wpg. So I know that 2x55 is not enough at 1.86 wpg. 

Next, I don't know if 4x55 would fit on a 45 inch tank but for 3.7 wpg that seems like a lot of work and a lot of heat. On the other hand, 4x36 for 2.4 wpg seems about right but if the reflectors and bulbs are not right, the coverage and look could be terrible. Maybe I need the extra watts to make up for less reflecting. And I have 2 of the GE 9325 bulbs on order, might be nice to use them on this tank, if they fit. 

Can you mix 55 and 36 watt bulbs on the same balasts? Would the mixed light intensities or color spectrums be bothersome if they were mixed on the front row? Can you build the hood for 4x55 and switch out a pair of 55s for 36s? 

And finally, given that my tanks start at 80 degrees (room temp) in the spring, summer and fall, and lighting adds heat after that, don't I need fans? One? Two?

The tank is 45"x18"x18". Probably to be Flourite and pressurized CO2. I will move the cardinals and kuhlies and serpaes into this tank, more otos, maybe adding a few SAE or something else. Maybe just increaseing the numbers of each group a bit. Not too sure, but no unique fish as far as I know.

Anyone got any advice to offer?


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## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

I can answer one question here, I think. As far as I know you can't mix 36 and 55 watt tubes on the same ballast.


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

OK, what about 3.0 wpg vs. 2.4? 

Longer tubes on the 55 watts, probably better coverage, but will that be "faster" than I want to go?


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

I didn't know you weren't supposed to mix wattages on the same ballast. I've run 2 PC's and 2 NO tubes off of the same Workhorse Electronic Ballast. Where did you hear about that, Rex? I've got to do some more research on it before I go recommending it further.

By the way, Ann, these GE 9325K bulbs aren't as long as most 55w PC's I've used. They're only about 21" long. You should be able to fit them lengthwise with a little room to spare in your 45" tank, even with bulky waterproof sockets. So maybe a row of 55's and a pair of regular 40watt Fluorescent tubes? 3.2 wpg and you could use cheap Gro-Lux F40T12's.


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

As of this minute I have ordered the 4x55watts, but I'm still really wondering if 4x36 might be better. I want a beautiful tank, not a PITA tank. I guess if the light is too bright I can allow a few floating plants or something. 

Dang, 4x55 is 3.7 wpg! That is definately too much! 2x55+2x36 was 3.0wpg. 4x36 was 2.4wpg. I hate it when I mess up!

As for the 40watt flourescents, I'l like that but 45 inches is a problem, aren't they 48 inches?


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Yes, that's true about the shop lights. They'll overhand and that tank/stand is far too pretty to get away with that.

3.7wpg isn't TOO hard to maintain. I've got that amount on my 55g right now and glosso seems to have barely enough light to do well. With your shorter height, it might be just right, actually. DIY CO2 definitely can't keep up with 3.7wpg, though!


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

Oh, I will go pressurized CO2 on this one.

I have actually called PSL once to change to 36 watts and then called back to tell them to ignore that. They're going to think I'm a nut.

I've finally decided that the higher watts can either be dealt with by staggering the light times so the max is on for fewer hours and/or adding floating plants and/or adding peat since the darker water always held me back from doing that. Yeah, it'll be OK.


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

I do all three of those ideas - tannins from driftwood, stagger lighting and floating riccia over fast growers like Sunset Hygro. The only trouble with tannis/peat is how much faster tall stem plants grow than foreground plants, since more light is blocked in deeper parts of the tank.


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

I didn't think about the steep light gradient that would make. I think the staggered light schedules will do it. And someone on another board posted some info from Eric Olsen about calculating required watt-hours so I'm good with that. Each bank on for 9 hours with a 3 hour delay on the second start time. The tank sees 12 hours total, 6 hours of full light.


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## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

I once talked to Kim at AH Supply and he said it was not good practice to mix wattages on the same ballast. Could be he was blowing smoke but I really trust the advice I get from Kim.


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

Just a followup on my supposed order from PSL. 

I can't get anyone to answer my emails or return my phone calls. I don't have an invoice from which to pay for the hood, I've gotten two different quotes by phone and by email. 

I doubt that they have begun making the damn thing, I sure wouldn't without any payment. 

I can't make payment without an invoice to be sure that the order is correct.

Thank God I haven't ordered any plants.

OK, trying to find a bright side in all this..... I suppose this means that I have a chance to rethink the bulbs.

3.8 wpg = 4 x 55 ... I assume that I cna slow this down by staggering the lights with 6 hours of full 3.8 wpg and 6 hours of 1.9 wpg. Does this really work? (Maybe I'd be better of to go with the 4 x 36 = 2.5 wpg?

If I stay with the 4 x 55, I could use the 2 new 55 watt GE bulbs I got, and mix with either the 6500 (6700?) bulbs they offer, or the "Plant Growth" bulbs, or the 50/50 bulbs they have. 

If I go with the 36 watts, is there much selection in bulb types? Can I find those GE bulbs in that size?


(Maybe the reason this is so screwed up is that I'm about to make a big mistake??)


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## mario (Feb 5, 2003)

Anona, I would go with the 4x55 watt. You are just going to kick yourself later on, when you realize that your Glosse is not growing quite horizontally or that your Riccia at the bottom of the tank turns yellowish. It's always easier to reduce your lighting (by using only two of the four bulbs) than to increase lighting.

As for the different bulbs... ? No idea.

Cheers... mario


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Wow, I'm surprised PSL hasn't been getting back to you. Did you email Bruce at [email protected] ? They've always been prompt with me. Sorry to hear they're stringing you along.

I, too, would go with the 4x55w system. It's easy to turn them down later, but pretty tough to turn them up. And the cost difference between 36w and 55w just isn't significant enough, IMHO.


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

gulfcoast, what about the bulbs? You have experience with all their bulbs don't you? 

I have 2 of the GE bulbs, I wonder how similar they are to the Plant Growth bulbs that PSL has?

Meanwhile I'll try that email, it is different than the email on their site and the one I've been replying to. Correction -- that is the same. 

<sigh> guess I need to go find some Flourite anyhow.


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Actually, I've never tried their bulbs, but I've bought ballasts, endcaps and accessories from them. Marcel did a comparison with the GE 9325K bulbs and PSL's Plant Growth bulbs and the GE bulbs outperformed them significantly ( refer to this thread for details (last post) )
Maybe try mixing the PSL Plant Growth bulbs and the GE 9325k bulbs to try and cover as much of the photosynthetic spectrum as you can?

Hopefully you get a response from PSL on that last email. They aren't a really fancy operation, so I guess you just need to know who to talk to.


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

Oh, trying to re-read that thread makes my head hurt! Help! OK, the gist of that is that the Plant Growth bulb looks dim but has correct spectrums for plants, but the GE 9325K does that better (more pearling). Now, I saw the comparison of the GE and the AHS bulbs you had, where the GE looked whiter and the AHS 6500 (?) looked greener, which may or may not be like the PSL 6500K will look. 

In the end, I think I'll want to have a daylight looking bulb to balance any violet from the GE bulbs, so I guess I need to get one pair of Plant Growth and one pair of 6500 and the pair of GE bulbs and just see how they all look. 

Yeah, so PSL is back at work so I'm ready to go, finally. Hopefully this will all go forward now!


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Anon: I've got some PSL growth bulbs (six of em) 4 were used for a week and 2 are brand new. Not sure which 2 are new. I'll sell you a couple cheap if you want to try them out. $12 a tube plus whatever shipping is.

Marcel


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

I may tank you up on that offer.

Let me see if I can contact PSL and change the bulb order to all 6500K. If I can, and I ought to be able to, I'll get back with you. 

Can you give me a raincheck on this for a week?


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## Guttboy (Jul 19, 2003)

http://w1.864.telia.com/~u86438141/articles/article_rng_lighting.htm

check this out on spectrum....

Mike


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

anonapersona said:


> I may tank you up on that offer.
> 
> Let me see if I can contact PSL and change the bulb order to all 6500K. If I can, and I ought to be able to, I'll get back with you.
> 
> Can you give me a raincheck on this for a week?


No problem


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

hey, M.lemay, I haven't forgotten about you, I'm just still waiting to see what they actually deliver with this hood. Once i see what bulbs I get, I'll be ready to take you up of the offer to buy some of the ones you have.


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

The custom Solar lights came in yesterday from PSL, and they sent two 6500K and two Plant Growth bulbs. I had a feeling that changing the order might not work after it was already written up and paid for.

So, I won't be able to take those extra bulbs off your hands. Thanks for the offer.


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Let us know any effects the new lighting has on growth. And don't forget pictures, when you can!


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

Don't hold your breath! I've still got a lot of things to do before I'm ready to try to move everything from the 20 to the 59. 

Still waiting on some orders, then a quick trip out of town. So, it'll be another couple of weeks until I'm prepared to make the big move.


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