36" Light over a 20L

[Gotcha38]

Does anyone else run a 36" light over their 20L? Or I guess a light that is longer than the tank it's over in general?

I'm not interested in running a 30" fixture, because I don't want to be tied into buying coralifes 30" bulbs. That leaves me with a 24" setup or just buying a 36" and having 3" of bulb hanging off either side.

My goals are a low - med light tank for my first aquarium, and I just want to grow easy low light plants. I was thinking of purchasing something like this (http://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-Coralif...787534&sr=8-20) and just running one bulb.

[Hoppy]

The Aqueon (Coralife) 2 x T5NO light will give you around 30-35 micrmols of PAR, which is good low light. You can use the 36 inch long version, or the 30 inch, which, I think uses 24 inch bulbs. Or, you could get a FishNeedIt 2 bulb T5HO light and get around 50-60 micromols of PAR, medium to high light. You could always hang the FishNeedIt light higher above the tank to get a lower light level - 4-6 inches above the top of the tank to get low light.

[Gotcha38]

Originally Posted by Hoppy

The Aqueon (Coralife) 2 x T5NO light will give you around 30-35 micrmols of PAR, which is good low light. You can use the 36 inch long version, or the 30 inch, which, I think uses 24 inch bulbs. Or, you could get a FishNeedIt 2 bulb T5HO light and get around 50-60 micromols of PAR, medium to high light. You could always hang the FishNeedIt light higher above the tank to get a lower light level - 4-6 inches above the top of the tank to get low light.

Is the Aqueon fixture that you're talking about the same one that I linked to? Is that PAR rating with both bulbs in or just one?

I based my information on the 30" fixture on posts I read here about the problem of finding 30" long bulbs. I also considered buying the 24" Marineland LED Double Bright light fixture, but I read several opinions that the amount of light was very low.

I think I'll stay away from that FishNeedIt fixture. I'm not interested in high light.

[GeToChKn]

I went 48" over my 20L and it gave me room to put a 12" cube next to it. lol.

[Hoppy]

Originally Posted by Gotcha38

Is the Aqueon fixture that you're talking about the same one that I linked to? Is that PAR rating with both bulbs in or just one?

I based my information on the 30" fixture on posts I read here about the problem of finding 30" long bulbs. I also considered buying the 24" Marineland LED Double Bright light fixture, but I read several opinions that the amount of light was very low.

I think I'll stay away from that FishNeedIt fixture. I'm not interested in high light.

As near as I can tell the light you linked to is the same one I have data for. The PAR I mentioned is with both bulbs on. A 20L tank is about 12-13 inches high, so with 2 inches of substrate, the light will only be about 10-11 inches away. For that distance there are several options for lighting, including single bulb T8 lights that come with most tanks, which should give you about 40 micromols of PAR.

The Marineland Double Bright 24-36" light would give you 35-40 micromols of PAR. It should work fine, especially since the tank is only about 12 inches front to back depth.

[Gotcha38]

Originally Posted by Hoppy

As near as I can tell the light you linked to is the same one I have data for. The PAR I mentioned is with both bulbs on. A 20L tank is about 12-13 inches high, so with 2 inches of substrate, the light will only be about 10-11 inches away. For that distance there are several options for lighting, including single bulb T8 lights that come with most tanks, which should give you about 40 micromols of PAR.

The Marineland Double Bright 24-36" light would give you 35-40 micromols of PAR. It should work fine, especially since the tank is only about 12 inches front to back depth.

So I'll be just as good with a T8 as with the Double Bright? Haha, why would anyone get the double bright?

So the two T5NO lights will give me a medium PAR at substrate? I think I may try that out. I don't want to get too technical, but I'm not above dosing some ferts.