# What type of light is needed?



## Jaysan (Dec 19, 2011)

Hi Everyone,

I am going to be running a 16 Gallon Trophy Style Aquarium.

I believe this tank is approx. 24" wide and 22.5" tall.

I was going to pick up a 18-24" Marineland single bright LED but after doing some research on that, it looks like that single bright wont be bright enough for some of my plants that I will be bringing over from my 10Gallon tank.

The current plants I have now are:

1. Dwarf Hygrophilia
2. Asian Ambulia
3. Rotala Rotundifolia
4. Pennywort
5. Blyxa Japonica
6. I think I may have some Glosso

I have maybe 1 or 2 other plants that I dont know the name to. haha

I would prefer going with LED's to decrease how much energy I use, but I wouldnt mind going with T5 bulbs.

Any help is appreciated!
Also, the lower the cost, the better for me, lol


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## charlie1 (Dec 1, 2011)

Jaysan said:


> Hi Everyone,
> 
> I am going to be running a 16 Gallon Trophy Style Aquarium.
> 
> ...


With those 2 things in mind check out this link
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/133649-make-your-own-high-output-light.html

Note 
you can spay paint the outside of the gutter to a colour of your choice or leave it white but leave the inside white -it`s your el chepo reflector
substitute a Sunblaster T5 24 inch fixture from a hydroponic store as the light fixture, that comes with everything( plug & play) just mount 2 -2 inch x 2inch pcs of wood either by screw or glue, to the inside of the gutter, this will serve 2 purposes (1)act as a standoff to allow air flow around the t5 strip(2) act a a mounting block for the mounting clips that comes with the T5 kit
Drill hole @ the end of the gutter end cap to allow the power cord from the T5 strip to pass through & Voilà you have a T5 Ho 24 watt fixture
You can also put 2 eye hooks @ the top /back of the Gutter so you can hang the fixture , this will allow you to vary the height of the light so you can decrease/increase intensity.
Regards
http://sunblasterlighting.com/lamp-and-fixture.php


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## chriscro (Dec 3, 2010)

HO T5 is the way to go in my opinion. they are super bright and relatively cheap. 2 bulbs would be enough for your setup. your glosso will need a ton of light and the t5 can provide that. LED cost a fortune.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

I've been interested in using PAR 30 and PAR 38 Leds for Freshwater Plants. I bought one for saltwater tank with blue and whites, but they would be useful in certain FW planted situations too. These are bulbs that screw into a fixture like any incandescent or spiral flourescent, but have a flat bottom for spotlighting. They would be great to be used as a pendant or raised arm, or wall sconse, or clamp lamp.

Philips has just released an overhauld LED selection to major stores such as Home Depot. Unfortunately, the boxes do not list the light temperature (kelvin) that they have so I've been unwilling to spend the $30 ish dollars on one. I should probably just call Philips Canada from their site and ask for the Kelvin of a couple of the products that interest me, but just two months ago I filled all my lighting needs for now, so havent looked into this further.

Regarding the Marineland lights. I used the *Double *brights over a 10G planted tank (see journal here) with great sucess! however, after the second year they have dimmed considerably, and while they still run, and light the tank, the output is halved probably.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

I looked at those Sunblaster lights. They were just what i needed, compact, daisy chainable, mountable, and came with appropriate bulbs. At my local hydroponics shop the one bulb 24W 24" were $34 for the fixture and bulb, and $18 for the nessescary reflector. Ultimately I ended up going online to order these 24" twin bulb 48W lights, for about $55 shipped.

They were not the best quality, but definetly the bast bang for buck i could find, and so after a few weeks of testing a couple fixtures I ended up putting a second order for more of them in. they do have some downsides I could discuss further.


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## charlie1 (Dec 1, 2011)

Will said:


> I looked at those Sunblaster lights. They were just what i needed, compact, daisy chainable, mountable, and came with appropriate bulbs. At my local hydroponics shop the one bulb 24W 24" were $34 for the fixture and bulb, *and $18 for the nessescary reflector*. Ultimately I ended up going online to order these 24" twin bulb 48W lights, for about $55 shipped.
> 
> They were not the best quality, but definetly the bast bang for buck i could find, and so after a few weeks of testing a couple fixtures I ended up putting a second order for more of them in. they do have some downsides I could discuss further.


If you go the sunblaster route , do not get the reflector , the vinyl is better than those reflectors, i know from personal experience, the reflectors are plastic junk with a mylar type coating which after some use goes brown as in scorched brown.
I differ with 2 t5 on your tank , i think 1 will suffice, if you find you want to go 2 after you can always put another strip in the same gutter housing.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

I just meant that a reflector is necessary for linear fluorescents.

The lights I ordered, also have mylar coated reflectors (one of those downsides I mentioned), so do Coralife/Aqueon's Low output t5 Aqualights.

Charlie would you share the vinyl reflector you mentioned?


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## charlie1 (Dec 1, 2011)

Will said:


> I just meant that a reflector is necessary for linear fluorescents.
> 
> The lights I ordered, also have mylar coated reflectors (one of those downsides I mentioned), so do Coralife/Aqueon's Low output t5 Aqualights.
> 
> Charlie would you share the vinyl reflector you mentioned?


Hi Will what i was referring to is the white of the vinyl gutter.
Sorry about that.
Regards


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Oh okay. It may not melt or brown, but there's no other way that with vinyl gutter can be better than proper parabolic shaped and mirror coated reflectors. It's more of a light housing than a reflector.

How long did it take for the mylar to noticably burn? I'm curious as my current T5HO seem to have mylar coated plastic and I want to know perhaps what to expect.


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## charlie1 (Dec 1, 2011)

Will said:


> Oh okay. It may not melt or brown, but there's no other way that with vinyl gutter can be better* than proper parabolic shaped and mirror coated reflectors.* It's more of a light housing than a reflector.
> 
> How long did it take for the mylar to noticably burn? I'm curious as my current T5HO seem to have mylar coated plastic and I want to know perhaps what to expect.


That is the key sentence there -"than proper parabolic shaped and mirror coated reflectors." - with the ephasis on proper, BTW i did not say it was better than a proper parapolic & mirror coated reflector.
i personally compared the vinyl gutter surface & the el cheapo sunblaster reflector & can tell you the vinyl was more reflective & this was also confirmed bu my local hydroponic store, for clarity the orginal sunblaster(not available anylonger) reflector was comparable to the Hagen glo reflector, bang for buck white vinyl works pretty good & is right inline with a flat white painted surface which is also recommended for cheap DIY projects.
Regards


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