Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

[tmfreak]

Was looking around for a 12 inch light fixture and im not sure how many watts I would need..maybe 3-5? I will have cabomba, some vals, and other small plants.

just some ideas

currentusa18

currentusa36

coralife36

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

Go to ikea or homedepot and get a desk lamp.....they have compact flourescent lamps which should work. You might need to get two of them though since most are 9-13w.

I would go with at least 20w for the Mini-M, I have the Mini-Solar over mine which is 27w and I think its lacking so I might get another lamp to push it closer to 40w total.

[Mzungu]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

By 3-5 watts, I'm guessing from your choices that you mean 3-5 wpg? Sounds good to me. You could also try ek's suggestion - I'm using a couple desk lamps right now and they're working great. But I wouldn't go into the higher wpg's unless you're planning on supplementing with CO2 and ferts.

Whether you go with ek's idea or with one of your choices, they're all going to do the job well. If you go with the Coralife or Current, be sure to get bulbs other than actinics.

I didn't know that they had put out a 12" fixture, thanks for the links! I was starting to get pretty frustrated over the limited options for lighting a small planted tank. I'm glad the industry's catching up!  8)

P.S. I edited your links so they'd fit on the page, hope that's ok.  :)

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

I agree the 12" fixtures are cool! One of the employees was showing it to me and also pointed out that you would have to replace the bulbs if you wanted to use if for a planted tank.

IMO the wpg rule is worthless when it comes to small/nano tanks. I have my 2.5g with a 18w (7.2wpg) fixture over it and zero ferts or co2 supplement and there is hardly any algae problems with great growth in the plants I have in there. The substrate does most of the work along with the fauna in there.

On my Mini-M I have the mini-solar which is 27w and I just noticed lots of new growth today but most of it is losing it's High light color so I plan to add more to it but of course it's getting pressurized co2.

[tmfreak]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

Ah, Thanks mzungu and whoa.

I found a 35 watt pc lamp at home depot on the site today. That would give me a good 7 wpg and I also need a regulator for my small 20oz co2 pressurized system. I grabbed it from one of my older hobbies (paintballing) and am going to see if I can hook it up.

The lamp at home depot is 8.97$ or around there  

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

Sweet find!

The paintball canister will need a specific thread pitch regulator which is different from normal co2 canisters so keep that in mind since it will cost a good chunk of change and won't be swapable unless you get an adapter.

Look up Rexgrigg.com and see if he can do anything for you, he offers some really good stuff that most others don't hold a dime to.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

Did you ever get that Lamp from HomeDepot?

Post pictures if you can cause I am tossing the idea of 2 more 5g's for shrimp and a nice looking lamp will be needed.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

Well I went to home depot and found lots of different options for all different levels of lighting.

All Compact fluorescent too!

There was lots of outside wall lamps that were CF with anything from 9w to I think 50+w's. I ended up getting a desk lamp that was on sale for $17 which is 18w with a 6500k bulb which I stripped out and retrofitted it to my hood on another 5g I just got.

[tmfreak]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

hmm, thats a pretty sweet price. heh.

thanks for the link!

sorry, i totally forgot about this thread. I am going to hit home depot soon to see if they have it in stock. screename went there earlier and stated that he could not find the model i was talking about which is:

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc%2fsearchResults.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@1326390365.1178502101@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdcaddklhhdhghcgelceffdfgidglo.0&MID=9876

dangit.. now i noticed its halogen..

well, i did have an existing 25watt compact with a ballast that ill find out how to fit.. ill probably have to make my own lamp and cover unit for it.. this will be a fun diy project

ill post some pictures and info once i get started with it

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

Home depot on I45 N/west rd. has the desk lamp I got....18w for 29.99 or you could get the 13w shop light which is $19.99 and I think the quad 2x13w is $30.

I went and got one of the shop lights for a refugium and it's 7000k

[tmfreak]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

I might go for the duals.. Any links or measurements you might on hand there?

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

Naw, I have the single shop light but it's on the back of my reef tank and it will probably need some work to make it look presentable.

[tmfreak]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

i went there a couple of days ago.. they most had halogens..
I was thinking about building a stand for the 25w compact flourescent with the ballast i have laying around.. no idea on where to start though

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

Hmmm.....

The one by my has a wall full of them.

[gt3guru]

Re: Lighting reccomendations for an ada 5 gal?

there was a 20 dollar lamp with a 27 watt PC bulb. a quad bulb. i'd have gotten it but i couldn't find the replacements anywhere.