[BradH]

Need some opinions on lighting a 40 gallon breeder. The dimensions are 36Lx18Wx16H.

My goal is low light, but at some point I'm thinking I might add co2. Even if I did add co2 later on, I would like to keep it low light still, as I'm not interested in dosing all the time (EI) and doing 50% water changes every week. The co2 would be cut way down. Mainly I really would only want the co2 for ground cover plants.

I've considered the following options.

2 single tube t8 strips.
1 single tube and 1 double tube t8 strip.
2 double tube t8 strips.
1 or 2 T5NO strip.
1 or 2 T5HO strip raised above the tank.
or 3 of the metal clamp on shop lights with cfl bulbs in them raised above the tank on some kind of mounting bracket, pointing vertically to get the most out of them.

I really don't see it being feasible to spend the money on a HO light and then raise up so high to keep it low light. Basically that seems like wasting money. I'm leaning more towards one of the t8 options or the cfl options.

 

[Hoppy]

Two widely spaced 2 bulb T5NO lights should work just right.

 

[BradH]

Two widely spaced 2 bulb T5NO lights should work just right.

Thanks Hoppy. I'm wondering if should go with the coralife (have one on my 29 already) or try the new ones from Aqueon?

 

[2in10]

Both are decent fixtures.

 

[madness]

I have a single Aqueon 2 bulb T5NO fixture directly on the top of my 40g breeder and the light spread definitely is not ideal. Having one at the front and one at the back would provide good coverage I would imagine but having a single fixture in the middle leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[BradH]

I have a single Aqueon 2 bulb T5NO fixture directly on the top of my 40g breeder and the light spread definitely is not ideal. Having one at the front and one at the back would provide good coverage I would imagine but having a single fixture in the middle leaves a lot to be desired.

Thanks for the input. I'm definitely going to run 2 fixtures on here.

 

[wkndracer]

lighting a 40B

I will not be adding gas to this tank.
Odyssea Quad, 4x39T5HO /8 lunar LED's.
Single metal reflector raised 11" above the tank.
Added wire to spread the bulbs so the 10K's are on both sides and the 65K are centered, a little solder, little heat shrink.
The bulbs are wired in pairs so I can run only two bulbs, split the photo period, run the outer set, or the two center positions.
Setup not quite a month but no algae issues to date. Light spread is excellent and fixture is modestly priced.

 

[shrimpNewbie]

the coralife t5 and aqueon t5 fixtures are the same just rebranded, a cheaper route is home depot fixtures

 

[BradH]

the coralife t5 and aqueon t5 fixtures are the same just rebranded, a cheaper route is home depot fixtures

I looked at home depot the other day, but I couldn't find anything that I thought would work. Maybe it was just the location I was at, but they didn't have much to look at as far as lighting. Do you have any recommendations to a specific fixture at home depot?

 

[Jim Miller]

T5 fixtures and bulbs at HD are pretty sparse. Lowes non-existent so far.

I can't help but think that T5 is unlikely to become mainstream before LED become affordable. Market moves slowly.

Jim

 

[BradH]

I just saw those marineland double bright led fixtures on sale close to my house. I'm trying to figure out if they will work, because the deal is too good to pass up if they will work. I'm searching around online trying to find some info on their par readings.

 

[Jim Miller]

The nice thing about LEDs is that they are easily dimmable.

jim

 

[BradH]

Well, after doing a quick look around google, they don't seem to put out enough light. So I guess I'll just go with the coralife T5NO's.