CFL suggestion for 45gal tank?

1166 Views 10 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Hoppy, Jul 27, 2012

Gamezawy

Discussion Starter · Jul 24, 2012

Hi all

I have started a 45gal tank with 40 inch long 18 inch height 16 inch deep My main plant is going to be HC carpet so i think i will need high light system

In the future i am planing to use cree XM-L LEDS but for now i would like to use compact fluorescent for this period tell i can get those leds its just hard to get them in Egypt

At my place there is so may different CFL types we have ( 23-36-45 50-60-75 ) watts all are 6500k so which one should i use and how much , i will be using reflectors

thanks for all the input

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Gamezawy

Discussion Starter · #2 · Jul 24, 2012

any one ?

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Hoppy

· #3 · Jul 24, 2012

I would use 26 watt bulbs (anything between 20 and 30 watts) in 8.5 inch diameter reflectors like this:

You would need at least 4 of them, probably 8, to adequately light that tank.

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Gamezawy

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 24, 2012

thank you very much respect

i really be happy when you input in my questions

so 6x 26 watt would be Enough ?

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Hoppy

· #5 · Jul 25, 2012

Gamezawy said:
thank you very much respect i really be happy when you input in my questions

so 6x 26 watt would be Enough ?

That should be enough, with the reflectors staggered, one near the front, next one near the back, etc.

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ThatGuyWithTheFish

· #6 · Jul 25, 2012

Hoppy, is a 40W CFL enough for high light in a 10 gallon?

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Hoppy

· #7 · Jul 25, 2012

ThatGuyWithTheFish said:
Hoppy, is a 40W CFL enough for high light in a 10 gallon?

It can be way too much light, too little light, or just about right. It all depends on how you use it. If it is horizontal, it might be low light, but not uniform over the whole tank. With a good reflector, that could raise the intensity up to the medium area. If you use a vertical mounted bulb, in a 8.5 inch diameter dome reflector, with the reflector a foot or so above the top of the tank, it might be medium or higher light.

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Gamezawy

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jul 26, 2012

for my case with the 8.5 inch diameter reflector how high should i put them above the tank ?

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Hoppy

· #9 · Jul 26, 2012

Gamezawy said:
for my case with the 8.5 inch diameter reflector how high should i put them above the tank ?

Just a couple of inches to provide for good air flow to keep them cool enough. Much higher and the PAR drops too much.

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Azarakiah

· #10 · Jul 27, 2012

tractor supply sells clamp lights with 10 inch domes fyi

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Hoppy

· #11 · Jul 27, 2012

The larger the diameter of the domes, the more area the light is spread out over, so the lower the PAR will necessarily be. The charts showing PAR vs distance for those CFL bulbs is based on 8 1/2 inch diameter domes.

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