Hi all,
I just built a 30" light strip for my 29G tank. It holds 3 24" T8 bulbs
with a parabolic reflector built in, and a remote electronic ballast. I am
looking to find out what is the best combination to sufficiently light my
plants and show off my fish. I have a moderate to heavily planted
tank -about 85% of the bottom is planted. Most plants are young, so i have a
lot of light penetration all the way to the gravel. Here is what I was
thinking- using 2-ZooMed flora sun bulbs at 18W and something like
1-Coralife 10,000K 18W. Would this provide enough light for plants and still
show off the true color of the tank and fish? I have neon's and Glo-lights
which look really good under the right color light.


--
Matt C.
http://home.comcast.net/~briarbushbrewery/

Got any drawings, plans, or price/equipment sheets for the light strip?

thanks,
steve


"Matt C." wrote in message
...
Hi all,
I just built a 30" light strip for my 29G tank. It holds 3 24" T8 bulbs
with a parabolic reflector built in, and a remote electronic ballast. I am
looking to find out what is the best combination to sufficiently light my
plants and show off my fish. I have a moderate to heavily planted
tank -about 85% of the bottom is planted. Most plants are young, so i have a
lot of light penetration all the way to the gravel. Here is what I was
thinking- using 2-ZooMed flora sun bulbs at 18W and something like
1-Coralife 10,000K 18W. Would this provide enough light for plants and still
show off the true color of the tank and fish? I have neon's and Glo-lights
which look really good under the right color light.


--
Matt C.
http://home.comcast.net/~briarbushbrewery/

In article ,
says...
Hi all,
I just built a 30" light strip for my 29G tank. It holds 3 24" T8 bulbs
with a parabolic reflector built in, and a remote electronic ballast. I am
looking to find out what is the best combination to sufficiently light my
plants and show off my fish. I have a moderate to heavily planted
tank -about 85% of the bottom is planted. Most plants are young, so i have a
lot of light penetration all the way to the gravel. Here is what I was
thinking- using 2-ZooMed flora sun bulbs at 18W and something like
1-Coralife 10,000K 18W. Would this provide enough light for plants and still
show off the true color of the tank and fish? I have neon's and Glo-lights
which look really good under the right color light.


Sounds like a good combination! I recently swapped one of the two 24" daylight
bulbs from an Eclipse 3 hood to a Flora Sun. It was recommended by several persons
on this newsgroup, and I like it. The colors of the fish are much improved,
especially the red tones on serpae tetras. But the lemon tetras and all the other
fish look better to my eye. This is on a 37G, similar to the 29 that you are
working with but taller. For serious plant growth my setup is a bit weak on light.
Your three tube setup with with reflector should do the job nicely, and without
wasting too much power.

Can you describe your design, and what you are doing for the reflector ?

I will try to get a simple webpage up this week with pictures and more
design aspects. basically it is a wooden fixture about 6" x 5" x 30" with a
parabolic reflector. It is holding three T8's. I have the ballast mounted
inside my tank stand and wired to the fixture so that the fixture didn't
have to be excessively large or have excessive heat.
All the parts I got surplus from my electrical engineer at my school. ( I
teach shop in a highschool so one hand washes the other etc....)
Pictures will help a lot, and I'll let you know when and where they are up.
I'm just glad you all had an interest in it!
-- next up a DIY moonlight with 5 blue LED's to be mounted inside the main
light fixture.

Matt C.
http://home.comcast.net/~briarbushbrewery/
"George Pontis" wrote in message
...
In article ,

says...
Hi all,
I just built a 30" light strip for my 29G tank. It holds 3 24" T8 bulbs
with a parabolic reflector built in, and a remote electronic ballast. I
am
looking to find out what is the best combination to sufficiently light my
plants and show off my fish. I have a moderate to heavily planted
tank -about 85% of the bottom is planted. Most plants are young, so i
have a
lot of light penetration all the way to the gravel. Here is what I was
thinking- using 2-ZooMed flora sun bulbs at 18W and something like
1-Coralife 10,000K 18W. Would this provide enough light for plants and
still
show off the true color of the tank and fish? I have neon's and
Glo-lights
which look really good under the right color light.


Sounds like a good combination! I recently swapped one of the two 24"
daylight
bulbs from an Eclipse 3 hood to a Flora Sun. It was recommended by several
persons
on this newsgroup, and I like it. The colors of the fish are much
improved,
especially the red tones on serpae tetras. But the lemon tetras and all
the other
fish look better to my eye. This is on a 37G, similar to the 29 that you
are
working with but taller. For serious plant growth my setup is a bit weak
on light.
Your three tube setup with with reflector should do the job nicely, and
without
wasting too much power.

Can you describe your design, and what you are doing for the reflector ?

I have the web up now, check it out and post feedback please, I'd like to
know what all think.
https://home.comcast.net/~amgock/


--
Matt C.
http://home.comcast.net/~briarbushbrewery/


"Matt C." wrote in message
...
Hi all,
I just built a 30" light strip for my 29G tank. It holds 3 24" T8 bulbs
with a parabolic reflector built in, and a remote electronic ballast. I am
looking to find out what is the best combination to sufficiently light my
plants and show off my fish. I have a moderate to heavily planted
tank -about 85% of the bottom is planted. Most plants are young, so i have
a lot of light penetration all the way to the gravel. Here is what I was
thinking- using 2-ZooMed flora sun bulbs at 18W and something like
1-Coralife 10,000K 18W. Would this provide enough light for plants and
still show off the true color of the tank and fish? I have neon's and
Glo-lights which look really good under the right color light.


--
Matt C.
http://home.comcast.net/~briarbushbrewery/

On 29 Oct 2004, the world was enlightened by Matt C.'s opinion about...

I have the web up now, check it out and post feedback please, I'd
like to
know what all think.
https://home.comcast.net/~amgock/



Looks good!

What did you make the reflector out of?


kev

--
Civilization.

An organized system of alternatives to the stone age - CJCherryh

In article ,
says...
I have the web up now, check it out and post feedback please, I'd like to
know what all think.
https://home.comcast.net/~amgock/


That is helpful Matt, thanks for taking the shots and posting.