Converting a 5 gallon hood light.

[jcgd]

I have this five gallon tank and it has this hood on it that holds two 25w bulbs that are not flourencent... they are the other ones that give off alot of heat. Indicasent or whatever. The socket comes out of the hood in the middle and the bulbs screw into each side. Each bulb is 25watts so that is 50 watts. Is this enought like for a planted nano tank? Or is there a way I can modify it to hold flourencent bulbs for cheap?

[ninoboy]

Why don't you just switch them to 2x10watts screw in cf. Should be enough for 5 gl.

[gnome]

Just to go into a bit more detail, both All-Glass and Coralife make a 10-watt "mini compact" bulb that screws into the sockets of incandescent fixtures. Since your fixture uses two sockets, it should work out great. I have a 12" one that only has one socket, and it only lit up one side of the tank.

One or both of the manufacturers makes a 20-watt bulb as well, but you'll have to check the fixture and bulb to see if the fixure can safely take one of these. I wouldn't recommend that much light, anyway. Just stick to two 10-watts.

My only gripes are that my All-Glass compact bulb seemed to make everything in the tank look washed-out green and my crypts didn't like the sudden change in lighting. But it did make my 2.5-gallon tank look a heck of a lot brighter (or at least half of the tank).

-Naomi

[jcgd]

I don't know the maker.
The tank is ancient. One fixture that holds two 25watt indicasence (or whatever) bulbs and the bulbs srew in and point away from the center of the tank.

FF
BBBBB=FFF=BBBBB

B is the bulb
F is the fixture

[ninoboy]

If it could fit 2x25 watts ind. bulbs, it can fit 2x10watts screw in CF bulbs for sure. This is how they look like :
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...;N=2004+113176

[gnome]

Yes, I was just thinking that you may be over-working 10W PC bulbs if the fixture is meant to take two 25W incandescents. It may actually be safer to use the 20W, although that's a LOT for a 5.5-gallon... You'd be headed straight for serious algae problems unless you really know what you're getting yourself into and can balance out everything else accordingly.

If you can come up with about $35 to blow, you can get a Coralife Mini Aqualight, which is only 9" in length and holds two 9W PC lights. It's meant to sit on a glass top, which you can have custom-cut for just a few bucks. I've heard some really good things about this light, and I'd think that it would be perfect for a 5.5-gallon tank. But I guess if you have a decent, working hood already, you might as well try out the compact bulbs. Two of them might cost almost as much as the Aqualight, though... The bulbs are pretty expensive. Definitely shop around for prices if you're on a tight budget.

-Naomi

[ninoboy]

Tell me if I'm wrong but the fixture for screw in doesn't have ballast. The screw in CF has its own ballast built in so there is no way you can overwork the screw in CF.

[gnome]

I don't know squat about the workings of bulbs. I know there's a ballast, but I couldn't tell you the first thing about what a ballast does. So you're probably right. The only thing I know for sure is that the 10W bulb can go into a 12" strip light. Beyond that, I can't be sure about anything technical.

Thanks for the correction.

-Naomi

[jcgd]

Well it looks like it would fit. Seems to be about the same size. So would this give me enough wattage for a high light nano tank?

[ninoboy]

Two of those would be great for your tank. I use them myself in my 5gl.