On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:15:43 -0700 (PDT), Larry B wrote:

I have a 46 gallon Oceanic bowfront freshwater community tank
populated with a few real plants and am considering the purchase of
replacement lamps or a new lighting system.

I currently have a 36" Coralife fixture with one T5 10,000K, 21 watt
lamp and one Actinic Bluelight, 21 watt lamp.

I would appreciate your recommendations regarding light systems,
lamps, ...

I've got a 1.2m tank and have installed an Arcadia Twin 54W Electronic
Ballast:
http://www.arcadia-uk.info/product.p...n=en&sub=&id=4

I've used two J5 Plant Pro lamps at 54W/42 inches:
http://www.arcadia-uk.info/product.p...n=en&sub=&id=4

The J5 ones are shorter than standard T5 lamps but have the same power
and light output. They fit into the hood of my Fluval aquarium reaching
almost to the ends.

They are much brighter than the original T8s supplied and the colours
are also much better as is plant growth. The electronic ballast is a
nice piece of kit and doesn't even get warm so it's very efficient. I
also fitted an Arcadia reflector to each tube.

You need to make sure you can fit the tubes into your hood though and
you need somewhere to bolt the tube clips to. There is about(at least?)
six feet of cable for each tube holder so it's very flexible to fit.

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk