NEW to the site! Lighting question

[homey_v]

HI EVERYBODY! Finally found a site that is canadian based. I am from vancouver. I have a 90 gallon tank and 45 gallon and a lot of smaller ones. They were all given to me when my dad and uncle stopped keeping fish. Well now it is my turn to keep them.

Well i have been keeping fish since i was in grade 6, bettas till a year ago. Now i am moving on to a big tank, hopefully planted if it is not too expensive. I have read all about the watts per gallon and stuff, but was told that only works for 10-50 gallon tanks.


I have a 90 gallon, 48 inch long and 18 inch deep.  How much lighting do  I need? at minimum.  I do not have that much money for lighting so I will most likely be making a lighting fixture by myself.  I am hoping to purchase everything I need from Big Al's and Rona.

Any suggestions?  

Thanks in Advance

[kennyman]

A good book about aquarium plants would come in very usefull. The $30 or so will probly save you that much in mistakes along the way. I know the internet is great, but so is a good book

[homey_v]

I was just searching about t5 and t12 and so on but did not find any thing i could understand.

the local fish store told me a t5 with 28 watt = to t12 with 40 watt


would this be a good choice for my tank?

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/catalog/product.xml?product_id=32853;category_id=2259



Edit: Ive got a really old plant book here with me. But all it can tell me about lighting is low high medium. I guy I spoke to said 200 watts should do and can grow these plants

I kept anibus, crypts, cabomba, assorted swords, pistia, hornswort, crystalwort

http://community.webshots.com/album/353322814LzIpxe

[BigDaddy]

The coralife you linked to would only be good for a shallow 4 foot tank.  Your 90 is 24 inches deep, barely any of the light would penetrate to the bottom of the tank.  Also, 56 watts is no where near enough for a 90 gallon tank.

To give you an idea, my 75 gallon tank, which is the same dimenstions as yours except it is 21 inches tall instead of 24, uses 220 watts of compact flourescent lighting.

I can grow everything but extremely high light plants.  I intend on upgrading to 330 Watts, just because I want the internode lengths on my stem plants to cut down a little.

If you want to keep low to medium light plants like the ones you have listed, I would get the Coralife 2 x 65 watt freshwater fixture.

Better yet, do what I did and get the parts yourself and build a nice wood canopy to sit 'em in!

PS - Welcome to the forum!

[jetstream]

Hi Homey-v
   First of all, welcome to the OVAS. If you are planning to grow low to medium light requirement plants using a 90 gallon tank, I think 4 55/65 watts compact fluorescent tubes will do for most of the not too demanding plants. It provides approx 20K lumens and should be ok for tank up to 24 inches deep. If you are planning on DIY, maybe you can check out is there any Litemor office or other specialty electrical shops in Vancover (or Ebay) to get the electronic ballast. I guess you will be able to get it cheaper than special order from  Rona or HD.  Good luck and have fun!

[homey_v]

O no no no. those plants are just the plants that guy planted. i was just quoting what he wrote to me and my tank is 18 inch tall.

well anyway. I am guessing t5s will not be a very good choice? the only ones i found are 28 watt max and the lfs said those would be good.  Want to let me know the type of ballast and lights your using?

[jetstream]

Totally agree with what Bigdaddy posted. I am also considering upgrade the  lighting on my 90 gallon to 400 watts CF to have some fun on the more demanding plants.

[homey_v]

O by the way. how much do you guys use on your lighting? I see at big als that they are like 400-1000 dollars

I know if you make your own it will be much cheaper, so for people who make your own. Where do your buy your ballasts? The ballasts and big als is $399->599

[BigDaddy]

My 220 watt system uses two electronic ballasts - one ballast for 2 55 watt tubes.

Each ballast cost me $50 bucks.

Then, each tube (which is normally $50 at Big Als) cost me $20.

So

Ballasts - $100
4 x 55 CF bulbs - $80
Endcaps - $36 (9 dollars for endcap and standoff)

$216 for all the electrical equipment required to build a unit that commercially costs $460.

Now... you do have to buy your own wood.... and the time to build, stain and finish.... but its still much cheaper to go DIY.

[Toss]

Hi, welcome to the club homey.
I have another suggestion for you that might save you some money. I don't have much money myself to spend it on lighting. I would rather spend it on the plants itself   .

Here is what I did:

Location of the tanks is the most important decision that might dictate whether high wattage (compact flour.) needed or regular lighting. I have mine close to the window. In the winter time, it receives about 10 mins direct sunlight a day. In the summer time, the sun misses the tank completely (good for algae control).

Tank covering, I use none. Any type of covering, glass or plexiglass will reduce the amount of light, especially when it is dirty with calcium buildup. I only lost 1/2 inch of water a week.

Reflector, I use chromed metal that came with the fixture. I bought the fixture from Home Depot, which is workbeach light fixture (the one with chromed metal look material), $34 plus tax.

Flouresence bulbs, the fixture fits 2xT10. I use Powerglow (enhance the colour of the fish and plant) and Lifeglow (for intensity). Total 80W, plus 7W regular wall nightlight with light sensor for the moonlight effect.

My tank size is 70gal, 48x16x24 outside dimensions. The setup is about 6 months old.

Result, the fishes spawning all the times, angel 3x, apisto 2x, swordtail countless. The plants growing growing very well. I gave a few members of this club the trimming almost on a weekly basis.

I includes a couple photos (from May) of the tank. Jetstream, oscardelahoya, Dan, and thor have seen my tank in person. Since then I have added Aponogeton Madagascar (thx to jetstream), Crinum Calamistratum, and Hydrocotyle verticillata.

Good luck Homey_v  :wink:

Regards
Enrico

[jetstream]

Hi Bigdaddy, do you mind tell/PM  me where you bought your ballast? The one that I'm using now are from Sylvania and cost more than the price that you posted.

Hi Toss, how is my ex- Lace plant doing now? :lol:

[oenology]

If you're handy with wiring you can pick up any number of used ballasts (different amps, # of lights...) at Cohen and Cohen on Merival for between 1 to 3 of bucks depending on the number of bulbs it's for. If they don't work or are noisy and buzz you can take them back and exchange them.

[TBarb]

It seems that everyone has there own way of doing lighting. For myself, ive' gone the cheap way and have 4x 32watt T8's over my 75 and it is working well. If I had more demanding plants I would certainly increase the wattage though. That said, my advise would be to go hardware store get a fixture and some light bulbs and see what that can give you. Sometimes you need a Ford and not a Ferrarri to get places...

Big D - Can you tell me the type of ballast you use? I thought that for high end fluorecents that you need special ballasts?