DIY canopy

[valiko]

I am looking into building a canopy.
I've got a 20 gal tropical aquarium, and want to get more light.
Right now I've got 2 - 24" fluorescent over it.

What would be the best kit from the ahsupply.com - 55w?
It is my understanding that 55w Compact Fluorescent != 55 w fluorescent.

[redbelly]

i may have a canopy that you could use to add more lighting.
my siggestion would be to buy or make a canopy, then pick up an electronic balast and run as many t8's as you can over the tank.

[darkdep]

55w Compact Fluorescent is more intense than 55w of standard fluorescent, yes.  

A simple comparison to illustrate:  A 4' T8 Fluorescent uses 32w, but produces the same intensity as a 4' T12 bulb using 40watts.  If you could get a 40watt T8, it would be "more intense" than the T12.

Since you're already running 48watts, you're not going to see a rediculous amount of difference with the PC (Except you'll have a brighter spot in your aquarium and probably a little darker along the sides...can't remember how long a 55watt PC bulb is).

Redbelly's suggestion is a good one.  Build your own canopy (you have to anyway with the AHsupply stuff) and stack it full of T8's.  You'll spend a lot less, and end up with similar results.  Plus, bulbs cost next to nothing at HD.

[kennyman]

I think the lum or lux rating is a superior method for selecting bulbs. simple watts was ok when all we had was the plain old flourescent tubes, but pc lighting adds annother dimention to it. All these bulbs come with lum rating now and it is not hard to use.

Hiscock's "Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants" offers a guide to calculating luminosity required. I am sure there are others, but thats the only one I have so far.

[zapisto]

if it is for plant watts have nothing to do in that.

wave length is more important

[gvv]

wave length is more important

Cannot agree. Light intensity is the most important and selected wavelength will give only additional 10% bonus in best case scenario. This is based on the Philips research as it was mentioned on the KRIBS site.

Regards

[valiko]

Right now I've got Philips Natural Light, which is 5000K, and SYlvania GroLux.

Are they both available in T8?

[BigDaddy]

Here's the simple truth:

There are several types of fluorescent lighting

Normal output T8 & T12
High output T5
Compact fluorescent
Very Hight Output

As far as the plants are concerned, for most applications 1 watt of t8 or T12 is equal to 1 watt of VHO of compact.

Unless you have a really deep tank, you will notice marginal differences between having 55 Watts of compact fluorescent lighting compared to 55 watts of normal output.  Your hydro bill might be different, but plant growth with be so similar as to barely be noticable, just like the 10% difference between spectrum use as we've already found out.

The list above is essentially going from least to best effeciency in the fluorescent range.  But again, unless you have unique circumstances or a very deep tank, I'd guesstimate less than 5% difference in plant growth using one type of lighting source over another.

The simple answer is put as bright a light source as you can over your tank.  The plants will do the rest.

[jaracas]

wavelength is the same thing as colour temperature, the lamp emits light at different wavelengths to produce the colour we see.
the idea behind giving the plant light is to provide energy in forms it can use.
yes, the plants can utilise different colours of light better than others, but as all 'white' light contains all colours (albeit in varying amounts) they are still going to get the wavelengths they require.
as far as lighting is concerned, the most important thing is the amount of energy in the form of light we can give to the plant, colour temp/wavelength is secondary and even then not that important at all.
find the most output you can in the form of Wattage then use the colour temp to give you an effect that is visually pleasing.

as an example, CT are selling 48" tubes named Plant and Aquarium (4000k i think) @ 40w for $4.99 these are no better for your P&A than the Daylight tubes @ $3.99 which are also 40w and have a temp of 6100k, even the normal tubes are 40w but produce an insipid yellow colour.
personally i find a mix of the P&A and Daylight tubes give a pleasing effect but it is down to personal preference.

So remember, Wattage first

[jaracas]

damn, i have to type faster! lol

[redbelly]

These guys are dead on!
I do disagree with the plant and aquarium bulbs though. I hate the colour that these produce. but this fact is just a matter of personal preferance, i just dont like how my tank looks with the plant and aquarium bulbs. i run only bulbs between 5000k and 6500k.

[kennyman]

Its not a big deal, but with more and more lighting options available I think its good to encourage people to understand the difference between intensity, spectrum values and power consumption. Why stay in the dark so to speak?

k reflects where on the radiation spectrum the bulb is emitting. It is not intensity. Nor is it power consumption. It is simply spectrum. Or "radiation levels"

Watts reflect how much power a bulb consumes, not how much light it generates. As Big Daddy says, A lot of bulbs are generating similar luminesce for the given amount of watts. So we can pretend watts is a good way of guesstimating light intensity. I'm sure we did that for incandescent bulbs too before flourescent became commonplace. But in fact you are not addressing intensity at all when referring to watts. We know this from incandescent vs flourescent. It still applies to MH, Sodium and various types of flourescent.

Lux is a measurement of how much radiation being produced is landing on a given surface area. The plain truth of it is LUX is intensity. So are the old fashion Foot Candles and there is other stuff science guys use. But Lux is what you will find on the bulb box.

[Toss]

I find Power Glow (18000k) brings out the colour of the fish. Mix it with any 6500k bulb and they served the purpose (growing plant) and presentation. My two cents

[valiko]

Any other sites besides ahsupply.com?
Any place to buy GloMat cheap?

[darkdep]

You can go to Buchanen Lighting, they're in Ottawa.  They have all the PC components you'll need.

AHSupply seems to have the best price if you're ordering over the weeb.

[valiko]

I've called Buchanan Lighting, and they want $60 CDN just for the 2x55 w ballast...

2x55 kit over at ahsupply.com is $64 USD.

[BigDaddy]

I've called Buchanan Lighting, and they want $60 CDN just for the 2x55 w ballast...

2x55 kit over at ahsupply.com is $64 USD.

True.. but then add the shipping charges and exchange...  $21 USD for shipping.  That's $85 USD before you pay taxes ...

Now, you are getting pre-wired end caps and reflectors at that price too

Six of one, half a dozen the other.  But if you want it quicker, you can get it locally.