# upgrading the lighting?



## flyjawn (Apr 21, 2008)

forgive me if this thread is not as concise at is should be - it's been almost a year since i was really giving my tank the attention it deserves so some details are a bit fuzzy...

i have a 20 gallon tank and the lighting is just a coralife bulb in the standard hood that came with the kit (marineland?). a year ago, i upgraded and got a strip light but that was 65 watts and was far too much light for my tank. plus with no hood, water evaporation was ridiculous. i sold that light and went back to the 15watts in the hood. 

i would like to find a middle ground but i'm not sure what to do. i'd like a bit more light so that i can grow a wider variety of plants but i don't want more than 1.5 WPG. plus i want the tank to be covered (i have two small children who will "feed" the fish if the top is open.

any suggestions?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

I believe 20 gallon tanks are usually 2 feet long right?

You could find a hood/canopy (or build one) that can hold two T8 bulbs (15 W each). That would give you 30 WPG, or essentially 1.5 WPG.

Also, I noticed in your wanted thread that you were looking for low light plants, etc. In my experience, Dwarf hairgrass does not fall into this category, as it seems to only grow in high light and CO2 injected conditions. It will probably survive in 1.5 WPG conditions, but may or may not grow and spread very quickly.


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## flyjawn (Apr 21, 2008)

thanks anthony... yeah my tank is 24 inches. i've never seen a 24 inch canopy that holds 2 bulbs and the guys at big al's told me that theres no such thing. (and we all know that they would never give bad advice right?  ) i don't know where else to look...

and yes i see that you're right about the hairgrass. darn


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Hahaha Nothin's dumber than a Hummer. hehe. Good one.

I saw the new(ish) H3 in motion from behind @ 80Km/h yesterday. The shocks are these tiny pathetic little struts from a Chevrolet Aveo and some very very cheap leafsprings.

If you offroaded it it'd come apart like a cracked egg. Which adds further to the rediculousness of the design. It LOOKS like its rugged, but its a joke with a tough body shell.


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## Fishfinder (Feb 17, 2008)

Pablo said:


> Hahaha Nothin's dumber than a Hummer. hehe. Good one.
> 
> I saw the new(ish) H3 in motion from behind @ 80Km/h yesterday. The shocks are these tiny pathetic little struts from a Chevrolet Aveo and some very very cheap leafsprings.
> 
> If you offroaded it it'd come apart like a cracked egg. Which adds further to the rediculousness of the design. It LOOKS like its rugged, but its a joke with a tough body shell.


first off, pablo...are you on some sort of drugs?
2nd, worse comes to worse, like said before you could make your own hood, or even try and get a cut of glass( or acrylic) that would fit over your tank with maybe 2-3 small holes for feeding, but have it not be wide enough so that the back has room for the filter/heaters. That way you could just get some small strip lights, and if the light is coming out to much, could try and make it have a small canopy, or if you find a small shop light, just put real duct tape on it along the sides to keep the light from flooding out(the metal kind, not the handy mans secret weapon kind)


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## XbrandonX (Nov 22, 2007)

The BA's up on Steeles (in my experience, they're the best BA's as far as service and quality are concerned) has T5 HO units for $75, I think that would be high light conditions, don't know the wpg or anything like that, but thats the one I'm going to pick up for my 20...


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## kweenshaker (Mar 11, 2006)

not sure about the light, but just get a glass lid for your tank. they have them at big al's....any store probably. or mops.ca


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Corallife double linear strip (t-5). 24 inches, comes with 2 bulbs included (14w full spectrum and 14w 6700k). That sits you at just over 1w/g but it is HO light, so it is better than most strip lights. If you find the lighting is too much, remove the pink bulb and it will cut your lighting in half. You should be able to grow almost anything with that lighting.

I grew some nice hygro, crypts and anubias off that fixture, using DIY co2 and a small amount of Seachem Flourish.


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## flyjawn (Apr 21, 2008)

XbrandonX said:


> The BA's up on Steeles (in my experience, they're the best BA's as far as service and quality are concerned) has T5 HO units for $75, I think that would be high light conditions, don't know the wpg or anything like that, but thats the one I'm going to pick up for my 20...


thanks everyone. yeah i've seen those lights at BA's. but i'm bitter because big al's in the US sells the same light for under $40.


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## Harry Muscle (Mar 21, 2007)

flyjawn said:


> thanks anthony... yeah my tank is 24 inches. i've never seen a 24 inch canopy that holds 2 bulbs and the guys at big al's told me that theres no such thing. (and we all know that they would never give bad advice right?  ) i don't know where else to look...
> 
> and yes i see that you're right about the hairgrass. darn


Big Als can order any All-Glass product usually, so I'd recommend going back to them with a print out of page 9 of this (http://www.aqueonproducts.com/assets/011/19783.pdf). Ask them to order the 24" strip light that houses 2 15W bulbs. Also get a versa glass top from page 6 (make sure you get the one designed for the double tube hood). Hope that helps.

Harry


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