Light for 40B

Odyssea makes a t5ho fixture that works great and is super affordable.

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Get shrimped out!

Do you have any PAR data on them? I feel they might be too much light for my tank...

shinycard255 said:

Do you have any PAR data on them? I feel they might be too much light for my tank...

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I would agree with you. I have an Odyssea 36" T5HO for my 40b. I got the 4 bulb version, but only use 2 bulbs and it is still Med-High light. I lent out my PAR meter, but as soon as I get it back I can get some readings for you.

You might try something like this. It should give lower PAR and be Lower light.
http://www.customaquatic.com/estore/control/product/~product=LT-JL2PL2236S

You can always raise the light.

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Get shrimped out!

I have a 40 gallon cube tank......it's not a 40B though, the tank dimensions for me are 30" x 18" x 18" I have a 3 bulb T5HO but only use 2 of the bulbs (24" bulbs). The fixture is about 3 or 4 inches above the water surface and I have to run pressurized CO2 with my setup. I think it would depend on how good the fixture is. If your using a really good quality T5HO fixture with good reflectors, like my Catalina or something even better, then it would be too much. If your using a low quality T5HO then you might be ok at low light if you raised it up a bit. I think if I were you and looking for a good low tech light, I would go with a T5NO fixture.

I have a 40B. I did some extensive research on this from experts on this site when I got it up and running. For my low light plants I got a coralight 96 watt. It has been great. It penetrates to the bottom of the tank but is far from overpowerful. I also have an open top tank and the legs it came with work well, It isn't suspended but I suppose it could be/.

Here it ishttp://www.marinedepot.com/Coralife..._Fixtures-Coralife-ES53006-FILTFIPCTS-vi.html

After a lot of thought I ordered a Finnex Ray2. Supposedly I will have 40-44 par @ 24" off the substrate. I am looking for 40 so I hope this is where I end up.

please post a review once you have your Finnex


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shinycard255 said:

So I'm the works of getting my 40B up and running, but i need some lighting recommendations...
....I'm not sure if any hardware store will have 36" T8s, but if they do, please inform me. Any other light recommendations will be put into consideration.

TIA

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Someone's got the DIY fever :hihi:

HomeDepot has 24 & 36 T5 fixture in single & double tube in white ceiling mount type fixtures that designed to be hardwired. That's any easy mod to convert to a wire & plug. Good thing is you could make a Oak Frame to mount lights in to match the stand. Bad thing you'll be close to the cost of a regular light fixture with double the weight.

Phish said:

I have a 40B. I did some extensive research on this from experts on this site when I got it up and running. For my low light plants I got a coralight 96 watt. It has been great. It penetrates to the bottom of the tank but is far from overpowerful. I also have an open top tank and the legs it came with work well, It isn't suspended but I suppose it could be/.

Here it ishttp://www.marinedepot.com/Coralife..._Fixtures-Coralife-ES53006-FILTFIPCTS-vi.html

Click to expand...

This might be what I'm looking for. I'm assuming this is a single bulb fixture? As long as it's low-med light, I'll be happy

DogFish said:

Someone's got the DIY fever :hihi:

HomeDepot has 24 & 36 T5 fixture in single & double tube in white ceiling mount type fixtures that designed to be hardwired. That's any easy mod to convert to a wire & plug. Good thing is you could make a Oak Frame to mount lights in to match the stand. Bad thing you'll be close to the cost of a regular light fixture with double the weight.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I have the DIY fever... I've looked into 12" T8s for my 5.5G, but I couldn't find any reflectors that went around the tubes so I went with an under-cabinet light and it grows low light plants well. Not much maintenance, which I like.

I don't really want to make a frame to mount the lights on. I'd rather just get lights that have legs to suspend it over the tank a bit or even hang them off the ceiling

It's hard to find an non-Aquarium fixture that looks nice enough to suspend over one's display tank. Some hydroponic fixtures are clean-simple looking but they tend to be heavy, housed in powder coated steel.

If I was going that route the New Finnex line that RazorWorm bought would be my 1st thought for a display tank. My 2nd thought would be cradleoffilthfan
s recommendation of the Catalina fixture. I believe Catalina will offer you some options like switched circuit per tube and NO or HO.

I have a hydroponics fixture over my 60G... that thing puts out a LOT of light! I have all 4 bulbs running and it lights up my basement like woah!

I'll look into the Finnex and Catalina fixtures as well. I'm open to suggestions and I'm not that picky, I just want it to look nice since you will see this tank as soon as you want into my house

Check out the Odyssea fixtures I'm tellin ya! They're sleek and have good PAR

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Get shrimped out!

shrimpedout, thanks for the suggestion. They are on my list of lights to check out. No need to keep telling me :hihi:

Lol ok sorry

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Get shrimped out!

Hey I found a thread I made when I started up my 40b. There is good info in here about lighting http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=127272

Thanks Phish, I'll read it over!