Lighting? Help a newbie?

[Dustin]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3212&item=2083560849

I have a 29 gal, I want to plant it. Ive read alot of "The Krib" but am
still warry about building my own. Would this hood do the job, and if so is
it a fair price?

Thank You for your help in advance!


Dustin

[LeighMo]

>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3212&item=2083560849
>
>I have a 29 gal, I want to plant it. Ive read alot of "The Krib" but am
>still warry about building my own. Would this hood do the job, and if so is
>it a fair price?

That might be overkill, if this is your first tank. It's 110 watts, which
would be nearly 4 watts per gallon for a 29 gallon tank.

If you don't want to inject CO2, you should aim for closer to 2 wpg. If you
are willing to inject CO2, 3 wpg is a good level.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

[Dustin]

Would the overkill hurt anything?

If I only used one bulb at 55W - which is 1.98w per gallon, with DIY co2,
would that be a better solution?

Thanks For All your Help :)

"LeighMo" > wrote in message
...
>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3212&item=2083560849
> >
> >I have a 29 gal, I want to plant it. Ive read alot of "The Krib" but am
> >still warry about building my own. Would this hood do the job, and if so
is
> >it a fair price?
>
> That might be overkill, if this is your first tank. It's 110 watts, which
> would be nearly 4 watts per gallon for a 29 gallon tank.
>
> If you don't want to inject CO2, you should aim for closer to 2 wpg. If
you
> are willing to inject CO2, 3 wpg is a good level.
>
>
> Leigh
>
> http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

[kush]

The challenge to having four watts per gallon is, first and initially,
getting your system stable and a desirable equilibrium established before
algae gets a foothold and, secondly, the several hours of weekly maintenance
you should expect to have to do to keep your plantings tamed. High light
levels are fun, but demanding - I'd firmly recommend getting some experience
and confidence at lower lighting levels before you attempt it.

IMHO, about two watts per gallon is an excellent level to start at. With a
55w CF over an 18" high tank, you can still have high light plants directly
under the lamp and low to medium light tolerant plants around the edges. At
two watts, a single soda bottle of CO2 injected into the filter will
probably be enough.

Good luck!

kush

"You can't have everything - where would you put it?"

Dustin > wrote in message
...
> Would the overkill hurt anything?
>
> If I only used one bulb at 55W - which is 1.98w per gallon, with DIY co2,
> would that be a better solution?
>
> Thanks For All your Help :)
>
> "LeighMo" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3212&item=2083560849
> > >
> > >I have a 29 gal, I want to plant it. Ive read alot of "The Krib" but
am
> > >still warry about building my own. Would this hood do the job, and if
so
> is
> > >it a fair price?
> >
> > That might be overkill, if this is your first tank. It's 110 watts,
which
> > would be nearly 4 watts per gallon for a 29 gallon tank.
> >
> > If you don't want to inject CO2, you should aim for closer to 2 wpg. If
> you
> > are willing to inject CO2, 3 wpg is a good level.
> >
> >
> > Leigh
> >
> > http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/
>
>

[Dustin]

Well I called the LFS and they actually made fun of me when i said 2 to 3
watt per gallon. They said anything over 1.5 would cook the fish. And this
company has been in business for over 20 years! haha.

Any truth to this?

Has anyone had any luck with ahsupply.com ?



"kush" > wrote in message
...
> The challenge to having four watts per gallon is, first and initially,
> getting your system stable and a desirable equilibrium established before
> algae gets a foothold and, secondly, the several hours of weekly
maintenance
> you should expect to have to do to keep your plantings tamed. High light
> levels are fun, but demanding - I'd firmly recommend getting some
experience
> and confidence at lower lighting levels before you attempt it.
>
> IMHO, about two watts per gallon is an excellent level to start at. With
a
> 55w CF over an 18" high tank, you can still have high light plants
directly
> under the lamp and low to medium light tolerant plants around the edges.
At
> two watts, a single soda bottle of CO2 injected into the filter will
> probably be enough.
>
> Good luck!
>
> kush
>
> "You can't have everything - where would you put it?"
>
> Dustin > wrote in message
> ...
> > Would the overkill hurt anything?
> >
> > If I only used one bulb at 55W - which is 1.98w per gallon, with DIY
co2,
> > would that be a better solution?
> >
> > Thanks For All your Help :)
> >
> > "LeighMo" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > >
> >
>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3212&item=2083560849
> > > >
> > > >I have a 29 gal, I want to plant it. Ive read alot of "The Krib" but
> am
> > > >still warry about building my own. Would this hood do the job, and
if
> so
> > is
> > > >it a fair price?
> > >
> > > That might be overkill, if this is your first tank. It's 110 watts,
> which
> > > would be nearly 4 watts per gallon for a 29 gallon tank.
> > >
> > > If you don't want to inject CO2, you should aim for closer to 2 wpg.
If
> > you
> > > are willing to inject CO2, 3 wpg is a good level.
> > >
> > >
> > > Leigh
> > >
> > > http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/
> >
> >
>
>

[kush]

Yeah, but anything under 1.5 watts will severely limit the plants you can
keep - a few crypts, anubias, java fern, etc. Don't worry; your fish will
be having so much fun playing hide and seek amongst the waving masses of
lush foliage they probably won't even notice that they're cooking. Anyway,
I have a couple of 20 gallon long tanks with 55 watt CF's over them, and no
boiled fish.

AH Supply is excellent. I've never heard of a complaint about them. That's
who I got my last couple of retrofits from.

kush

You can't have everything - where would you put it?"


Dustin > wrote in message
...
> Well I called the LFS and they actually made fun of me when i said 2 to 3
> watt per gallon. They said anything over 1.5 would cook the fish. And
this
> company has been in business for over 20 years! haha.
>
> Any truth to this?
>
> Has anyone had any luck with ahsupply.com ?
>
>
>
> "kush" > wrote in message
> ...
> > The challenge to having four watts per gallon is, first and initially,
> > getting your system stable and a desirable equilibrium established
before
> > algae gets a foothold and, secondly, the several hours of weekly
> maintenance
> > you should expect to have to do to keep your plantings tamed. High
light
> > levels are fun, but demanding - I'd firmly recommend getting some
> experience
> > and confidence at lower lighting levels before you attempt it.
> >
> > IMHO, about two watts per gallon is an excellent level to start at.
With
> a
> > 55w CF over an 18" high tank, you can still have high light plants
> directly
> > under the lamp and low to medium light tolerant plants around the edges.
> At
> > two watts, a single soda bottle of CO2 injected into the filter will
> > probably be enough.
> >
> > Good luck!
> >
> > kush
> >
> > "You can't have everything - where would you put it?"
> >
> > Dustin > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Would the overkill hurt anything?
> > >
> > > If I only used one bulb at 55W - which is 1.98w per gallon, with DIY
> co2,
> > > would that be a better solution?
> > >
> > > Thanks For All your Help :)
> > >
> > > "LeighMo" > wrote in message
> > > ...
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3212&item=2083560849
> > > > >
> > > > >I have a 29 gal, I want to plant it. Ive read alot of "The Krib"
but
> > am
> > > > >still warry about building my own. Would this hood do the job, and
> if
> > so
> > > is
> > > > >it a fair price?
> > > >
> > > > That might be overkill, if this is your first tank. It's 110 watts,
> > which
> > > > would be nearly 4 watts per gallon for a 29 gallon tank.
> > > >
> > > > If you don't want to inject CO2, you should aim for closer to 2 wpg.
> If
> > > you
> > > > are willing to inject CO2, 3 wpg is a good level.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Leigh
> > > >
> > > > http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

[Chuck Gadd]

On Thu, 26 Dec 2002 22:14:27 -0800, "Dustin"
> wrote:

>watt per gallon. They said anything over 1.5 would cook the fish. And this
>company has been in business for over 20 years! haha.
>
>Any truth to this?

Well, since MANY people here are using 3-4 watts per gallon, it's
obviously NOT true.

And yes, AH supply is a VERY highly regarded lighting supplier for
planted tanks.


Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

[Jenya]

Hi Dustin,

I also have 29g tank.
I have 2x55 fixture from ahsupply. I built my own hood for it.
http://home1.gte.net/res0xn9p/fishtankhood/index.html

Bulbs are wired up with switches that allow me to operate them independatly

I understand what people mean when saying that some experience is desirable
when going with high intensity lights.
I had an unbelievable explosion of algae shortly after I started using new
lights. At this moment I won over algae by letting fast growing plants to
grow wild. I have to do weeding out very often. Other plants are catching
up. Overall I am very happy with the tank right now and don't regret having
two 55W bulbs. Besides being bright enough to grow pretty much any plants,
it allows me to mix bulbs with different colors to my likening
http://www.culbertfamily.com/jenya/aquarium/lights/

--
Jenya
Computers are useless. They can only give answers.-Pablo Picasso
"Dustin" > wrote in message
...
>
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3212&item=2083560849
>
> I have a 29 gal, I want to plant it. Ive read alot of "The Krib" but am
> still warry about building my own. Would this hood do the job, and if so
is
> it a fair price?
>
> Thank You for your help in advance!
>
>
> Dustin
>
>

[Dustin]

Wow that is wonderful :) I was looking at your lighting charts, did you get
the blue/red lights from ahsupply as well? Which do you use?

Do you have any pictures of your 29gal?

Thank You!

"Jenya" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Dustin,
>
> I also have 29g tank.
> I have 2x55 fixture from ahsupply. I built my own hood for it.
> http://home1.gte.net/res0xn9p/fishtankhood/index.html
>
> Bulbs are wired up with switches that allow me to operate them
independatly
>
> I understand what people mean when saying that some experience is
desirable
> when going with high intensity lights.
> I had an unbelievable explosion of algae shortly after I started using new
> lights. At this moment I won over algae by letting fast growing plants to
> grow wild. I have to do weeding out very often. Other plants are catching
> up. Overall I am very happy with the tank right now and don't regret
having
> two 55W bulbs. Besides being bright enough to grow pretty much any plants,
> it allows me to mix bulbs with different colors to my likening
> http://www.culbertfamily.com/jenya/aquarium/lights/
>
> --
> Jenya
> Computers are useless. They can only give answers.-Pablo Picasso
> "Dustin" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
>
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3212&item=2083560849
> >
> > I have a 29 gal, I want to plant it. Ive read alot of "The Krib" but am
> > still warry about building my own. Would this hood do the job, and if
so
> is
> > it a fair price?
> >
> > Thank You for your help in advance!
> >
> >
> > Dustin
> >
> >
>
>

[LeighMo]

>Would the overkill hurt anything?

It can cause intense algae headaches. If you don't inject CO2, it can cause
daily pH swings that are severe enough to harm the fish.

>If I only used one bulb at 55W - which is 1.98w per gallon, with DIY co2,
>would that be a better solution?

You could grow just about anything you wanted with this setup. The growth
would not be as fast as it would with more light, but that's not a bad thing.
Less maintenance!

AH Supply is very well-regarded. And if you build your own, you can design it
so that you can add more light, later.

As for lighting...the sun is much more intense than any manmade light, so the
brightness of the light shouldn't be a problem. However, the heat generated
can be. My tank gets very warm in the summer. So much so that I ended up
buying an air conditioner and a power fan for the room the tank is in.



Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

[Jenya]

> the blue/red lights from ahsupply as well? Which do you use?
I don't know if ahsupply has red/blue. Last time I looked they didn't.
You can get the light from http://www.petsupplyliquidator.com/
I ended up using 6400K + Red/Blue. I think it also would be interesting to
try 10K/Red +10K/Blue.

> Do you have any pictures of your 29gal?
Not yet. I'd like to wait taking the picture until my other plants will get
to their full size. Right now the tank is dominated by ellodea(sp?). Perhaps
in a couple of weeks it will look more the way it should be.

Jenya