Lighting - VERY CONFUSED

Hey all,

Ive been looking for a thread that gives you the basics of lighting everything so far ive read seems so complicated. T8 T5 TTTTT kelvin watts bla bla bla haha.

Anyhow here is why i am investigating a lighting setup. I currently have a 3foot tank that doesnt really have any lighting. I am turning this tank into a planted tank and therefor need lighting. I went to the fish shop here in PE today and i was told that for my +-100liter tank i need about a 25watt light/ballast which they did not have stock of so i didnt buy one.

Now i have been browsing around and some people say 1watt per liter is a good combo? Is this correct? my problem is that i dont have much money to spend on lighting at the moment.

Basically i want to know a couple things.

1) Would it be better to rather get a 36 watt ballast because its the same price as the other ones?(are 36watt tubes readly avalible?)

2) What kelvin rating would you reccomend?

I basically have a budget of +- R200 for lighting, the ballast is R90 no matter what wattage i choose which leaves R110 for a tube. Please recommend? (Do i possibley need two ballasts and two lights?)

Please let me know! Im looking for all the advice i can get, im planning to plant stuff by friday so want to get my lighting sorted out this weekend.

Thanks
Freaksta

 

Ok, what kind of plants are you wanting to keep?

Lets do it this what: If you want hard to keep plants, you need more light. It's as simple as that. Well, no, not really. You'll also need Co2, but that's another story...

To keep plants happy in terms of light, the best light is T5. It is a higher output of light that your standard flourescent tube. It's also uses energy saving tubes. You can get a dual T5 DIY ballast for about R150. The tubes will set you back a small packet if bought from a LFS. If you go to a lighting shop, it will be cheaper. The dual ballast means that you can run 2 lights from one ballast, so it's worth it for the extra few bucks. Over a 3 ft, you might be able to get 2 x 39watt tubes in there. That means you'll have 78 watts in a 90 liter tank. That is more than enough light. You also get 24watt ballasts, but if you don't have a black plastic hood/canopy, the 39watt tubes will fit...

Just remember, the more light you have, the more you need to dose liquid fertilizers and the more Co2 you will need. You need to supply these three things in a good quantity so that the plants get everything they need to grow.

6500K lights are great for plant growth. The blue spectrum apparently induces algae growth.

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

I do have a black canopy will i still be able to fit in a 39watt tube? For now if anything i can only afford to get a single tube so im guessing you would recommend the 39watt over the smaller ones.

 

Yup... If you want to grow plants, the T5 39watts over that tank will be the best bet... If you were in Joburg, I'd give you a 39 watt dual ballast For R100. It's a DIY one... I have some spares. LOL!!

I'd definitely recommend the 39watts. They really rock.

 

Hi Freak !!
I know some people will disagree with me but i have good results with ordenary energy saver light bulbs. they are cheap and for me do the trick. I used 3X18w cold white on this tank.
But it is true you will have limitations, but that you said your finances are limited i guess you will not go for the specialized plants either

 

Those are fine if you are keeping low light plants. But you will still be very limited in terms of what you will be able to keep. Remember that a 15 watt energy saver is only a 15 watt light. Not he 100watts that it is equivalent to...

 

Ordinary black plastic canopy? T5's will melt it so fast...

If you get the canopy reflective ie paint it white or get a reflective material like Mylar or Alanod, coupled with T8's or daylight energy savers/CFL's. You should get decent growth.

If you go the T8 route, go to a lighting shop and ask for Philips TLD-865 or an equivalent daylight tube/X65 tube. First digit is light intensity, while the trailing 2 are for kelvin rating. A 30W tube shouldn't be more than 30-40 bucks

To confuse the issue a bit more, lighting is only one part. Nutrients and nutrient uptake is a whole other kettle of fish

 

Hi Slagter
I speak under correction but as far as i can remember the 1watt/L is still from a time when normal light bulbs where the norm. The light has nothing to do with the watt! A HQL light has a higher Light output than a normal houshold bulb as has a MQL with the same wattage. With the ordenary bulb a big part if not most of the energy produced is heat.
Many even argue that the spectrum of the light is more crucial than the actual amount of lumen.
Be it as it may everybody should try for him self and see what works. thats the beauty of the hobby.

 

Thanks, i have been considering this, im not yet buying anything until i see what is worth what etc which will be better in the long run.

Similar to this canopy except the one that fits on my tank.. Would it really melt? For now i am just worrying about the lighting setup. nutreints and that can be brought at a later stage, i am considering profs drops.

Another question i have is what size tube fits into the ballasts that most fish shops sell they are quite slim and no the bulky ones.

 

I have T5 light in a canopy like that, well 2 of them and a T8 blue tube. Been like that for the last 8 months and it's fine...

The watts per liter thing is a reference only, but in general it is an easy way of determining the amount of light you will need.

Obviously with higher output lighting like Metal Halide or other high output lights it's different, but we aren't talking about that kind of light in this thread. The WPG rule is a great guideline for people who want to know how much light they need...

 

Cool thanks, i ended up getting a 20watt ballast and then 2 of thsoe CLFs.

Thanks for all the helps though!

 

You don't need ballasts for CFLs...

 

Good stuff... It should be ok for some easy to grow plants. Post pics when you're done.

 

I know that, but i have 2 CLFS 18watts(6500k) each and a 20Watt tube as well. So in total i have 3 lights in my tank.

Hopefully all goes well tomorrow and i get everything planted. Will post picks as soon as im done. Just been reading up on the plants now so i know were and how to place them

 

CFL not CLF. Compact Flourescent Light.

Good luck on the planting

 

Not sure if your A. reinekii will handle that light too well though. The bacopa will grow fairly well, as will the sword and the vallis... The red plants need much more light (and additional Iron) than green plants.

Let us know how these things go...

 

I brought them to break the green colours, so i hope they grow, will make sure they are exposed to maximum light with nothing blocking out any of the light, the one i pick up from my LFS seemed very heathly in there tank with just one tube in it. Not sure how long it was there for but all the leafs are healthy and it was actually growing out the water. So hopefully with my peat/silica substrate and some ferts with my current lighting setup it will grow decently, it doesnt have to grow fast it must just stay alive and be heathy then i will be happy. As i said its just to break the colour!

 

Good luck. I battle to grow red plants with way more light (312 watts to be exact) and pressurized Co2 injection

 

250watt MH with CO2 - red plants love it

 

i wouldnt say i have a lot of light 54Watts max