Left C

T5HO bulbs in a good single reflector are very bright plus a 20 long is only 12" tall and 12" wide. Check out Hoppy's sticky about lighting and a PAR meter.

I have no interest at all in building something like that. I would rather use a ready made Eheim.

Yeast sux big time. There are many of us that have built our own regulators. It is easy, rather cheap and you end up with a better piece of equipment than that $65 one.

regulator threads:
http://www.barrreport.com/showthread...age-Regulators
http://www.barrreport.com/showthread...or-Build-Links

They are skinny!

I have a 40 breeder in my apartment. It has a 36"x18" footprint and it is 16" tall. A 50g is 18" tall and a 65g is 24" tall. This size is enough for me.

I think that an aquarium with equipment weighs about 10 lbs per gallon. I would think that most apartments could hold a 75g. You can test it out. Get 5 adults and have them stand very close together in your apartment. If they fall through the floor, you'll know that you can't have a 75g in your apartment. Isn't that a jammin' idea?

jseyfert3

This one? http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...aquariums.html

According to that one, 2x24W T5 can be used on a 20, but not a 20 long? Even though 55W CLF is listed for both? Is that because with CFL you can spread the light better then a 24" T5 bulb? Should I be posting a thread on the lighting forum for this question?

Lol well that's you, I like doing stuff myself (to a point), especially if it saves money. My stand I have both my tanks on is made from 2x4's and 3/4" plywood. Cost me $70 in supplies (60% was hardware, not wood!), but it's rock solid. The tanks are stacked. I will eventually rebuild it, it doesn't need to have the plywood at all, and doesn't need to be quite as big, and I'll have the tanks side-by-side. But, you learn. Plus I intended the bottom shelf for a 10 gallon tank, which never happened.

Well, like I said, money, until I can to the pressurized system. I'm going to a community college, and I work full time, so I do have some money. But it takes awhile, I can get lights now but not the CO2 system. Give me a month or so.

Thanks for the regulator links, I'll check them out.

Cool idea. But now that you said that, it makes sense that it could hold a 75 gal tank. Sweet!

jseyfert3

Finally found Hoppy's thread. You didn't tell me it was on a different website...I'm new here, remember?

Anyway, I asked if two of these 18W units would be too much. Since they have better reflectors then the ones I linked, even though it's 36W instead of 48W it's probably as much light!

Much to learn still, much to learn...

jseyfert3

Just tested my tap water for the first time, with my new API test kit. As follows:

• 21° KH
• 0° GH
• 7.4 PH

Marauder

I have a 4x 54 watt T5HO Tek Light on my 75 and it is a blazer! This is it. http://www.specialty-lights.com/960035.html I've been able to grow virtually everything I put in the tank. The only exceptions being plants that required soft water. It has 9 bend parabolic reflectors and they really work.

There is a big difference between T5 and T5HO...namely about 50% more watts. I'm not entirely sure which light you are looking at here though. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...0&pcatid=16770 The product description is confusing to me.

The 30" one is listed at 48 watts but has saltwater bulbs. The 24" light also has 48 watts but has a 10k and a non-specific K "plant" bulb.

It seems to me that since the WPG gallon rule tends to break down on tanks smaller than 55 or over 90, that a 48 watt light ought to be considered medium light over a 20 gallon tank. Coupled with pressurized C02 this ought to be a managable set-up. Am I right about this?

I do have to admit to being a wee bit rusty about all this. My tank has been running quite well for a long time now and I haven't done much with it recently.

jseyfert3

They have a 48W 30" freshwater one as well. Has the same non-discript bulbs.

As for the lighting, I'm waiting on an answer from Hoppy over here: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/li...ml#post1815336

I'm leaning towards the AH Supply bulbs, unless told otherwise, as they have a much better reflector then the ones I linked from Drs Foster Smith.

jseyfert3

Here's Hoppy's list:

I'm not sure if the AH Supply bulbs count as a HO or NO in the 18W range though.

I'm going to take a SWAG (scientific wild-ass guess) and say off his chart, with a 4" high mounting point, two 18W AH Supply should give me medium light and two 24W should give me high light. This is with the AH Supply reflectors end-to-end over the tank, like one big long bulb.

jseyfert3

I'm not sure if there's a better place to post this question, but based on my above test results, am I going to have some issues?

I did a search, and I'm not the only one with this sort of water, but it does seem to be rare.

Left C

API's GH test kit sux big time. It is very had to tell the color change where the titration should be stopped. I hate this kit! If it was me, I'd throw it in the trash.

More than likely you do not have 0° GH since your KH is rather high. I don't not have a guess what it would be though.

For a cheap GH/KH test kit, try Hagen's (Nutrafin's). It measures in ppm instead of degrees but you can convert it to degrees easy enough. Divide your GH or KH degrees by 17.86 and you have ppm's.

Left C

30" long aquarium suck when it comes to lighting. The biggest majority of linear bulbs (PC, T8, T12, T12VHO, T5, T5HO, T5VHO and so forth) come in lengths near 2 feet, 3 feet, 4 feet and so forth. Many times you are faced with using either bulbs too short (22") or too long (34"). There are a few bulbs that are near 30" long though. As you've found, you can place some bulbs end to end like those 18" PC's. This 2x18w kit would give you high light. Unless you have pressurized CO2, you should stay away from high light. Now if you went with a 30" 29g that is 18" tall vs a 12" tall 20 long, that same 2x18w kit will give you medium lighting. If you raise it up more, you will have low light. Look at Hoppy's first chart in his sticky. This is better information than the graph that you posted here. Look at his graphs using T5, T8 and T5HO bulbs. This will help you with these bulbs. A single T5 or T8 will be low light with a white reflector or no reflector and a single T5HO with a good reflector will give you very high light. With what you are wanting to do with a DIY filter and yeast/sugar CO2, you should stick with low light.