planted tank lighting
 

I have a 20 gallon tank with a few live plants in it now that are growing
slowly since I only have 15watts of lighting on the tank.. How much would i
need to get my plants to grow at a reasonable rate? Also, is it worth
building a DIY light system or is it just best to buy a new hood and duel
light stripe?

Phil..

planted tank lighting
 

you could always make one cheap enough if your inclined enough to do so, but
wouldn't jump to more than another 15watts or so.. keeping your watts per
gallon near 2WPG is good in your case, 30watts in a 20gallon is 1.5WPG

you might be able to swap your 15watter to an 18 and make a 2x18 hood,
giving you 36watts, or 1.8WPG, which is good....


"Phil Williamson" wrote in message
...
I have a 20 gallon tank with a few live plants in it now that are growing
slowly since I only have 15watts of lighting on the tank.. How much would
i
need to get my plants to grow at a reasonable rate? Also, is it worth
building a DIY light system or is it just best to buy a new hood and duel
light stripe?

Phil..

planted tank lighting
 

On Tue, 10 Dec 2002 10:17:29 -0500, "Phil Williamson"
wrote:

I have a 20 gallon tank with a few live plants in it now that are growing
slowly since I only have 15watts of lighting on the tank.. How much would i
need to get my plants to grow at a reasonable rate? Also, is it worth
building a DIY light system or is it just best to buy a new hood and duel
light stripe?

Phil..


First off is your tank a 20 long or a 20 high? Once you figure that
out head on over to www.ahsupply.com and get a upgrade kit. I would
look at a 55 watt kit for either tank. You will be very happy with
the amount of light you get. Be prepared to add fertilizers every
couple of day and do a lot of trimming though.

planted tank lighting
 

Xref: 127.0.0.1 rec.aquaria.freshwater.plants:66839

The tank is a long one.. are the prices on ahsupply.com in US funds?

Phil..

"Cannibul" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 10 Dec 2002 10:17:29 -0500, "Phil Williamson"
wrote:

I have a 20 gallon tank with a few live plants in it now that are growing
slowly since I only have 15watts of lighting on the tank.. How much
would i
need to get my plants to grow at a reasonable rate? Also, is it worth
building a DIY light system or is it just best to buy a new hood and duel
light stripe?

Phil..


First off is your tank a 20 long or a 20 high? Once you figure that
out head on over to www.ahsupply.com and get a upgrade kit. I would
look at a 55 watt kit for either tank. You will be very happy with
the amount of light you get. Be prepared to add fertilizers every
couple of day and do a lot of trimming though.

planted tank lighting
 

On Tue, 10 Dec 2002 21:11:26 -0500, "Phil Williamson"
wrote:

The tank is a long one.. are the prices on ahsupply.com in US funds?

Phil..

"Cannibul" wrote in message
.. .


Yes.

planted tank lighting
 

how much room do you have in your existing canopy? I assume it's a
marineland 20G kit right?

You could probably get ballast, bulb and clip for a 40W compact from a local
electrical supplier for less than $50 cdn, and replace the existing bulb
parts with the new CF ones.

"Cannibul" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 10 Dec 2002 21:11:26 -0500, "Phil Williamson"
wrote:

The tank is a long one.. are the prices on ahsupply.com in US funds?

Phil..

"Cannibul" wrote in message
.. .


Yes.

planted tank lighting
 

Yep, that's the canopy I have.. Would it be hard to change the ballast in
the existing light? I've never done anything like this before..

Thx,

Phil...

"Haywire" wrote in message
able.rogers.com...
how much room do you have in your existing canopy? I assume it's a
marineland 20G kit right?

You could probably get ballast, bulb and clip for a 40W compact from a
local
electrical supplier for less than $50 cdn, and replace the existing bulb
parts with the new CF ones.

"Cannibul" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 10 Dec 2002 21:11:26 -0500, "Phil Williamson"
wrote:

The tank is a long one.. are the prices on ahsupply.com in US funds?

Phil..

"Cannibul" wrote in message
.. .


Yes.

planted tank lighting
 

I did it for the 1st time when I set my 27G up after I had the 20G stable, I
planned on doing the 20G to at least 40W, but the dammed fish in the tank
laid eggs and started raising fry :) and are about to do it again.

one thing I found out was that the ballast for the CF is quite small I
recall it's about 7 1/2" x 1" x 3/4" , I assume that the rapid start ballast
in the marineland tank is similar in size. The CF bulb is wider than the
18W you have, but is about the same height.

As far as the wiring and stuff goes it's quite simple.
hey, I just noticed cogeco, what part of Canada?

"Phil Williamson" wrote in message
...
Yep, that's the canopy I have.. Would it be hard to change the ballast in
the existing light? I've never done anything like this before..

Thx,

Phil...

"Haywire" wrote in message
able.rogers.com...
how much room do you have in your existing canopy? I assume it's a
marineland 20G kit right?

You could probably get ballast, bulb and clip for a 40W compact from a
local
electrical supplier for less than $50 cdn, and replace the existing bulb
parts with the new CF ones.

"Cannibul" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 10 Dec 2002 21:11:26 -0500, "Phil Williamson"
wrote:

The tank is a long one.. are the prices on ahsupply.com in US funds?

Phil..

"Cannibul" wrote in message
.. .


Yes.

planted tank lighting
 

for a relatively small tank like a 20-gallon, you need
7 watt/gallon for high light plants and 3 to 4 watt/gallon
for medium light plants

"Phil Williamson" wrote in message
...
I have a 20 gallon tank with a few live plants in it now that are growing
slowly since I only have 15watts of lighting on the tank.. How much would
i
need to get my plants to grow at a reasonable rate? Also, is it worth
building a DIY light system or is it just best to buy a new hood and duel
light stripe?

Phil..

planted tank lighting
 

WOW! I've got a 55-watt cf's on my twenty-longs and they look like the
inside of a super-nova. I can't even IMAGINE 7 watts!

kush

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

alex crouvier wrote in message
...
for a relatively small tank like a 20-gallon, you need
7 watt/gallon for high light plants and 3 to 4 watt/gallon
for medium light plants

"Phil Williamson" wrote in message
...
I have a 20 gallon tank with a few live plants in it now that are
growing
slowly since I only have 15watts of lighting on the tank.. How much
would
i
need to get my plants to grow at a reasonable rate? Also, is it worth
building a DIY light system or is it just best to buy a new hood and
duel
light stripe?

Phil..

planted tank lighting
 

Ok, sounds possible with a little help for me to put the CF in. I'll have
to go to the local hardware store and see if they have what I need.

I'm from windsor, Ontario. It's just on the boarder to Detroit. Where are
you from?

Phil..

"Haywire" wrote in message
. cable.rogers.com...
I did it for the 1st time when I set my 27G up after I had the 20G stable,
I
planned on doing the 20G to at least 40W, but the dammed fish in the tank
laid eggs and started raising fry :) and are about to do it again.

one thing I found out was that the ballast for the CF is quite small I
recall it's about 7 1/2" x 1" x 3/4" , I assume that the rapid start
ballast
in the marineland tank is similar in size. The CF bulb is wider than the
18W you have, but is about the same height.

As far as the wiring and stuff goes it's quite simple.
hey, I just noticed cogeco, what part of Canada?

planted tank lighting
 

On Fri, 13 Dec 2002 23:24:17 +0800, "alex crouvier"
wrote:

for a relatively small tank like a 20-gallon, you need
7 watt/gallon for high light plants and 3 to 4 watt/gallon
for medium light plants

I'm an advocate of high lighting, but that's wayyy to high. Unless
maybe you are referring to incandescent lights.

20g is a fairly standard size, so the normal 2-3 watts per gallon
would be medium, and 3+ is high lighting.


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

planted tank lighting
 

hehe Toronto area, spent a year working in Windsor supervising the wall
repairs to 660 Oultette, Call Tucker Electric, ask Tommy (or whoever
answers) which electrical supplier in Windsor carries T5's and take it from
there.


"Phil Williamson" wrote in message
...
Ok, sounds possible with a little help for me to put the CF in. I'll have
to go to the local hardware store and see if they have what I need.

I'm from windsor, Ontario. It's just on the boarder to Detroit. Where
are
you from?

Phil..

"Haywire" wrote in message
. cable.rogers.com...
I did it for the 1st time when I set my 27G up after I had the 20G
stable,
I
planned on doing the 20G to at least 40W, but the dammed fish in the
tank
laid eggs and started raising fry :) and are about to do it again.

one thing I found out was that the ballast for the CF is quite small I
recall it's about 7 1/2" x 1" x 3/4" , I assume that the rapid start
ballast
in the marineland tank is similar in size. The CF bulb is wider than
the
18W you have, but is about the same height.

As far as the wiring and stuff goes it's quite simple.
hey, I just noticed cogeco, what part of Canada?

planted tank lighting
 

alex crouvier wrote:

for a relatively small tank like a 20-gallon, you need
7 watt/gallon for high light plants and 3 to 4 watt/gallon
for medium light plants

140 watts over a 20 gallon seems the very definition of "overkill". 55 Watts
from AHS illuminates a 20G pretty darn well.

Do you actually have a 20 gallon tank with 140 watts over it? Can you describe
your experience, or better yet, show us a photo?