My inexpensive CFL light solution

[allaboutfish]

ill be doing this on my 10 gallon. 2 20 watt CFL's(a little overboard). ill be using these lamps on a glass hood
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2753959

[m00se]

Originally Posted by allaboutfish

ill be doing this on my 10 gallon. 2 20 watt CFL's(a little overboard). ill be using these lamps on a glass hood
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2753959

What makes you choose those bulbs and/or configuration?

[allaboutfish]

Originally Posted by m00se

What makes you choose those bulbs and/or configuration?

what do you mean?

[m00se]

Originally Posted by allaboutfish

what do you mean?

It was a polite way of asking you why you are interested in putting that much light over a 10 gallon tank, I guess. Meaning - Are you propagating SPS corals in there, or growing plants? Because that much light over that small a surface area, unless they're 24" or more above the tank, will become unmanageable and cause all sorts of problems. The number one problem IMO will be algae. Number two will be moderating temperature. CFL's don't put out a lot of heat, but they do generate a bit. Ten gallons of water is unstable on a good day, and I'm guessing here, but my intuition tells me it will cook that tank if you put those lamps right on the cover glass. I don't mean to be condescending or rude. I'm just curious how you arrived at those wattages.

[dundadundun]

first off... i have to start off by saying this was a phenomenal thread idea. too many people it seems are attracted to "high quality" lighting and have problems because they can't make the necessary adjustments to make it work once they've spent top dollar on their equipment. not that they couldn't add some mounting/hanging hardware....

this thread shows clearly that you can get great results on a budget without the need to feel embarrassed about sharing your frugal nature with the community.

amano fanbois look out. rofl...

anyway... my personal ghetto hanging clamp lamp fixture thingies...


make no never mind that they all aren't the exact same unit. i used what i had on hand and haven't cared to fix what's not broke as of yet.

[allaboutfish]

Originally Posted by m00se

It was a polite way of asking you why you are interested in putting that much light over a 10 gallon tank, I guess. Meaning - Are you propagating SPS corals in there, or growing plants? Because that much light over that small a surface area, unless they're 24" or more above the tank, will become unmanageable and cause all sorts of problems. The number one problem IMO will be algae. Number two will be moderating temperature. CFL's don't put out a lot of heat, but they do generate a bit. Ten gallons of water is unstable on a good day, and I'm guessing here, but my intuition tells me it will cook that tank if you put those lamps right on the cover glass. I don't mean to be condescending or rude. I'm just curious how you arrived at those wattages.

well on another forum someone has 2 CFL's 36 watts each on a ten and she has minimal algae so far plus i have a dirt bottom, im dosing ferts, and i plan on doing DIY Co2, plus ill have a large floating plant.
oh and do you really think itd heat the tank? the tanks not heated but i dont want to fry the fish. i also picked the light so i could upgrade to a 20 high.

[m00se]

Originally Posted by allaboutfish

what do you mean?

Hey allaboutfish - One other thing. In a post above I describe the difference between the Zoo Med (aluminum) shade and the Fluker (white paint) shade. On the chance that you get a bigger tank you might consider the difference between white paint and aluminum as reflector material. There's not a lot of difference in reflectivity between the 2 materials (aluminum works slightly better), but it does exist. White paint yellows eventually, and there's the stickler. The Fluker does give you the traditional clamp whereas the Zoo Med is designed to be used with their stand so you only get a wire "hanger" with them. You'll have to decide whether or not the clamps are necessary or not. I knew I wasn't going to use them.

I bought from these folks and was happy with the transaction. They were cheaper than anyone else by a large amount when I bought my 8.5" lamps.

http://ozbo.com/Zoo-Med-Laboratories...art-LF-19.html

Good luck!

[allaboutfish]

Originally Posted by m00se

Hey allaboutfish - One other thing. In a post above I describe the difference between the Zoo Med (aluminum) shade and the Fluker (white paint) shade. On the chance that you get a bigger tank you might consider the difference between white paint and aluminum as reflector material. There's not a lot of difference in reflectivity between the 2 materials (aluminum works slightly better), but it does exist. White paint yellows eventually, and there's the stickler. The Fluker does give you the traditional clamp whereas the Zoo Med is designed to be used with their stand so you only get a wire "hanger" with them. You'll have to decide whether or not the clamps are necessary or not. I knew I wasn't going to use them.

I bought from these folks and was happy with the transaction. They were cheaper than anyone else by a large amount when I bought my 8.5" lamps.

http://ozbo.com/Zoo-Med-Laboratories...art-LF-19.html

Good luck!

yea i dont need the clamp. i actually have one of the zoo meds so im just going to get another, but thanks!!

[m00se]

Originally Posted by allaboutfish

well on another forum someone has 2 CFL's 36 watts each on a ten and she has minimal algae so far plus i have a dirt bottom, im dosing ferts, and i plan on doing DIY Co2, plus ill have a large floating plant.
oh and do you really think itd heat the tank? the tanks not heated but i dont want to fry the fish. i also picked the light so i could upgrade to a 20 high.

I would be interested in knowing how high that person has them hanging above the tank. 72 watts on a 10 gallon tank? Wow is all I have to say. All of the mitigating information you supply for your tank is good to know, but I'm not convinced you'll be trouble free with that much light. Of course I'm willing to be wrong here!! 10 gallon tanks are notoriously unstable on many parameters, especially temperature. Again there's no way to know exactly what the temp will do on your specific tank, but experience and general wisdom within the hobby points that way. There's a reason "kits" come with 6-9 watt lights on 10 gallon tanks. Hoppy's got an excellent chart he put together with his PAR meter and various light levels. I don't have the url handy but I think it's a sticky in the lighting forum. I do, however, have this thread saved, and if you drill down a bit, you will discover the outstanding work i4x4nMore did examining various CFL configurations and how important just a small adjustment can make in their orientation and height above the tank. He explains it with detailed Powerpoint slides and makes it interesting.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/li...ver-bulbs.html

I see this thread is a sticky too! Good! Excellent work!

Here is Hoppy's thread:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/li...t5-t12-pc.html

All the best!

[allaboutfish]

Originally Posted by m00se

I would be interested in knowing how high that person has them hanging above the tank. 72 watts on a 10 gallon tank? Wow is all I have to say. All of the mitigating information you supply for your tank is good to know, but I'm not convinced you'll be trouble free with that much light. Of course I'm willing to be wrong here!! 10 gallon tanks are notoriously unstable on many parameters, especially temperature. Again there's no way to know exactly what the temp will do on your specific tank, but experience and general wisdom within the hobby points that way. There's a reason "kits" come with 6-9 watt lights on 10 gallon tanks. Hoppi's got an excellent chart he put together with his PAR meter and various light levels. I don't have the url handy but I think it's a sticky in the lighting forum. I do, however, have this thread saved, and if you drill down a bit, you will discover the outstanding work i4x4nMore did examining various CFL configurations and how important just a small adjustment can make in their orientation and height above the tank. He explains it with detailed Powerpoint slides and makes it interesting.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/li...ver-bulbs.html

I see this thread is a sticky too! Good! Excellent work!

Here is Hoppi's thread:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/li...t5-t12-pc.html

All the best!

its actually 2 60 watt CFL's in a standard hood.
http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/ak...lant-blog.html

[Hoppy]

Here is an article by a guy I know extremely well: http://www.aquabotanic.com/?p=1497

[jmrmotorhead]

Originally Posted by m00se

Don't forget you have your lamps sitting right on the glass. The height of the light above the water will make a difference in the overlap. I don't see any areas in my "18 inches front-to-back" 40b that are lighter or darker. The length of my tank is the same as yours (36"). I bet if you lifted your lamps you'd see a big difference.

I just checked and the bottom of the CFL is 8.5" from the water surface. The bottom edge of the shade is 4" from the water surface. So although these shades are deeper than the shades you're using, the spread is much better at the height they're at.

Also be aware that Fluker make these same lamps, but the inside of the shade is white. I chose the Zoo Meds specifically because they were aluminum inside. Just as a FYI, I'm using 15w 6500K daylights in those. They're generic Lowes house brand. Months ago when I was running DIY CO2 I tried 23w "natural light" daylight bulbs and it was way too much light. I was combating every algae known to man. These bulbs seem to have all the PAR they need to get the job done.

So jart, the take-away of all this is that "it depends"

Very very true. I have been trying to get better spread, and didn't even think of the relationship between height off the surface and lateral dispersion. I should probably raise these up before I get some nice algae growing... 19w x4 is a lot of light from what I've read... I think I'll start around 5" from the surface and see where that gets me. Remember I have a stupid glass top on there... so I'm sure that reflects some of the light back out.

On a side note my rotala just started to shoot up after the low top trim, can't wait till the l aromatica and reopens start to grow

Do you have a journal for your tank moose? I really would like to look through the progress you've made. It really looks great.

[jmrmotorhead]

Originally Posted by dundadundun

first off... i have to start off by saying this was a phenomenal thread idea. too many people it seems are attracted to "high quality" lighting and have problems because they can't make the necessary adjustments to make it work once they've spent top dollar on their equipment. not that they couldn't add some mounting/hanging hardware....

this thread shows clearly that you can get great results on a budget without the need to feel embarrassed about sharing your frugal nature with the community.

amano fanbois look out. rofl...

anyway... my personal ghetto hanging clamp lamp fixture thingies...


make no never mind that they all aren't the exact same unit. i used what i had on hand and haven't cared to fix what's not broke as of yet.

Thanks Dun, I'm glad we got this thread going, seems to have helped quite a few people get effective lighting with a low budget. I like your tank, what are your light hanging from?

Matt

[h4n]

Originally Posted by allaboutfish

its actually 2 60 watt CFL's in a standard hood.
http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/ak...lant-blog.html

those two 60 watt are actually 13watt.

[m00se]

Originally Posted by herns

What is the lowest height available for this type of fixture?
I measured the 9" diameter I got from HD and the height is about 7".

Does anyone has 5" high model lamp?

herns: I'm not sure what you're asking here. My lamps are 8.5" diameter at the opening, and 9" tall (at the top of the ceramic socket). There is a narrow deep dome lamp made by both Fluker and Zoo Med. It's 5" diameter. I don't know how tall it is - I think about the same as the 8.5". There are several manufacturers of clamp lamps. They vary slightly in dimensions. If you want to investigate them, when you google include "brooder lamp" in your searches.

I think in the near future you'll see plenty more deep dome style lamps due to the fact that the new CFLs are mandated in the US, and the old shades are too shallow to accommodate them.