Miss Jackie ([info]theanonymous1) wrote in [info]1fish_2fish,
2007-12-09 20:16:00
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lighting question

So I was picking up some algae eating shrimp at Petsmart and noticed that they had terrarium compact flourscent lighting nearby, Here
Here's my question, would it be possible to use something like that for a fish tank? Just finding that online I'm seeing it says not for aquarium, which I didn't see when I looked on the box. I know the lighting can't be exposed to water, so would my glass hood work to protect it or just let this have been another crazy idea that isn't so smart after research?

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  • 9 comments

[info]teefers

December 10 2007, 03:04:22 UTC 4 years ago

were you planning to switch out the kind of light or did you want UV light on your fish tank for a reason..?

[info]theanonymous1

December 10 2007, 03:21:15 UTC 4 years ago

See, I keep getting confused. I do research. Decide I don't know enough and just stick with the lighting that came with my tank. I've been adding fertilizers and started CO2 (though I'm pretty sure the last batch didn't work cause our house is too cold) and want to having lighting that'll help the plants thrive and keep everything balanced. I'm not even sure what spectrum I need - it's for a 30G tropical freshwater tank. I've managed to figure out everything so far, just the lighting keeps baffling me.

[info]teefers

December 10 2007, 06:03:09 UTC 4 years ago Edited:  December 10 2007, 06:07:19 UTC

well the main reason why you wouldn't want to use that one is that its mostly UV, while your plants would benefit from more of a sunlight kind of spectrum. if you wanted to get a similar light for your tank, you would be looking at "actinic" bulbs, but those are used more for saltwater, not so great for a planted tank. oh, not to mention its also a heating lamp for reptiles, so you're likely to get a large fluctuation in temp when you turn it on and off. and it would need to operate on top of some glass to protect it from moisture, like you said.

this is the lighting you want (the freshwater kind, of course. they give you diff bulbs for sw):
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+9871&pcatid=9871

[info]theanonymous1

December 10 2007, 19:54:34 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you for that link! I knew about that website but didn't know which lighting was right for me. Thanks for the help!

[info]teefers

December 10 2007, 20:15:56 UTC 4 years ago

welcome ^_^ finding certain products on that site can be confusing sometimes!

[info]winds_of_fall

December 10 2007, 04:08:06 UTC 4 years ago

I think the reason it may not be for aquariums is because of how warm or even hot these lights can make the water.

If you were able to put it higher above the hood where it would provide light without excessive warmth, then I don't think it would be a problem.

I believe lights on the blue side of the spectrum are the best for live plants. But I've been told by some folks that any lights with highs in any part of the spectrum are good (I don't know how true this is though, so I'd ask around before deciding on anything like this).

The one thing I've always managed to stick by is wattage. From what I've seen, having close to or at least one watt of power per gallon of water, keeps plants doing really well. Anything less, and the plants will still grow, but usually only the hardy varieties.

[info]theanonymous1

December 10 2007, 04:13:54 UTC 4 years ago

The heat aspect definitely makes sense. I'm pretty sure I have only a 15 or 20 watt bulb on that tank right now so I definitely need to increase (though I should check). Would 2 flourscent strips work do you think?
Reading up on the lighting stuff gets so technical it's great just to hear some basic advice from somebody. Thanks!

[info]winds_of_fall

December 10 2007, 04:43:44 UTC 4 years ago

i imagine two would work better than one. It's less likely that they'll overheat your tank. But I would still keep an eye out for the temperature anyway.

Lighting is frustrating at best. Normally, the right thing for most people, they come across almost accidentley. As long as your patient enough to try something new and give it the chance to work out, I'm sure you'll end up with something that works right for you

[info]threegoldfish

December 10 2007, 04:41:12 UTC 4 years ago

Plants absorb a big spike in the blues part of the spectrum. They also absorb a big, but smaller, spike in the reds. They reflect green which is why plants are green to us. :) Here is a chart of the visible light spectrum and where they absorb. However, since all the bulbs are done by color temperature, it's a bit more guessy to figure out if your bulb is putting out the right mixture. Somewhere in my books I have a bunch of spectrum charts from different kinds of bulbs (fluorescent, metal halide, etc) but can I find it? No. Pfft.

Wattage is usually a good starting point for basic strip fluorescents but stuff starts to get complicated if you switch over to compact fluorescents. I fired up a 13W CF today and it's waaaay brigher than any strip fluorescent I have. I'm definitely wanting to switch over to CF for the rest of my tanks, if only for the money saving alone.
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