Lighting Help Needed for 20 and 29 Gallon Aquariums

I used to have a 29 with baby tears which I would trim into a 'sod'. I had a 55W AHS retrofit plus a 20W standard strip light - along with pressurized CO2. I don't know that you could do what you want with less.

If you can get 55 watts over each tank you will be able to grow most plants. Power compacts will work well

I know some people get irritated at the constant recommendations of AH Supply light kits, but they really are a good, not too expensive way to get high light intensity. Their reflectors really do work well.

The 96 watt are 36" arent they?

Those particular quad lights are only 18".

Actually, just buying these two fixtures and glass canopies would be even better. Plus I wouldn't have to put anything together.

These would also be cheaper, but 4WPG is probably too much.

ericpop27 said:

I have two aquariums that I need lighting help with. One is a standard 20 gallon (24x12x16) and the other is a standard 29 gallon (30x12x18). Right now the 20 gallon has two 15 watt fluorescent lamps (5500K), the 29 gallon has one 20 watt bulb (6700K). Both tanks have DIY CO2 and use the Flourish line of fertilizers.

The plants I'm keeping are Amazon Swords, Moneywort, Banana plants, and Dwarf Baby Tears. I'm having trouble growing a carpet of the Dwarf Baby Tears and I think it's most likely that my lighting is inadequate.

Neither of my hoods has a reflector, just the white plastic thing. Would adding a reflector be sufficient or do I need to upgrade to PC fluorescent? If so, how much lighting for the two tanks?

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I wish that you you would use the normal front and the normal front color.

This is hard for me to read and I just skip over it.

I'm sorry!

I'm getting a bit old.

Aw, I'm sorry. I've noticed I'm the only person who personalizes their font...

After searching through Drs Foster & Smith, Petsmart, Petco, AHSupply, and AquariumGuys - it looks like the cheapest route would be to buy a glass canopy and a completed strip light rather than attempt to convert my existing hoods.

you get much better light with the AH supply. MUCH better. you may have issues with your carpet with a single coralife 65 watt fixture. I have a 29 and ran a 65x2 and was good to go. Youd be better off with a t5HO 24x2 fixture for the 29. Or you would be gold with the AH bright light kit. Some of hte cheaper commercial fixtures do not have good reflectors. This is deceiving for a newbie. The reflectors mean everything.

What if I bought an already completed light hood and just added a reflector from AH supply?

I really don't know anything about T5HO.

ericpop27 said:

What if I bought an already completed light hood and just added a reflector from AH supply?

I really don't know anything about T5HO.

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You can check the dimensions of the AHS reflector on their website, then compare that to how much room you would have to install it. I suspect there wouldn't be enough room in most light fixtures you could buy.

I picked out this one for my 29...it has a polished aluminum reflector. I want to put a 9325K lamp in it. The dimensions for the fixture say: 25" x 5.5" x 2.75" high, the miro 4 reflector from AH is 22"L x 4"W x 2"H. For the 20 I picked out this one the dimensions are 24" long x 5" wide x 2.5" high, the miro 4 reflector from AH is 22"L x 4"W x 2"H

Here's the prices I've come up with:
20 Gallon: $133.97 (glass canopy, enclosure, Brightkit) 1x55
20 Gallon: $71.98 (DFS glass canopy, AquariumGuys CF strip light) 1x65

29 Gallon: $170.97 (glass canopy, enclosure, Brightkit) 1x55
29 Gallon: $103.17 DFS (AG glass canopy, Aquariums Guys CF strip light and new bulb) 1x65

if you were going to go that route, you were better off with this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/AQUARIUM-LIGHT-...ryZ46314QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Its only $54 + shipping. Sure some people dont like jebo but its cheap and its 65x2 and the reflector is about the same as the one you picked out. And at least you would have 2x the light. You can use the 2nd light as a burst if it was too much. Better to have too much light on hand(but able to reduce with dual switches) then not enough. Plus theres other cheap 65x2s on ebay that are under $100. You may end up with not enough light with a single 65watt over a 29 with a bad reflector depending on what you want to grow. Some people will try to tell you youll be fine but I already been down this road. You will need pressurized co2 with either one the 65x1 or 65x2 btw.

I still haven't decided which route I'm going. But I came across this item.

That would put my 20 gallon tank at 2.4 WPG and seems more reasonable to maintain. I really don't know anything about HO and the availability, durability, and quality of the lamps. I'm also going to check out the Metal Hallide fixtures.

Can anyone give me some pros and cons of the different options?

The metal hallide is way too expensive, but does a T-5 HO or VHO fit in a regular fluorescent hood?

i've retrofitted an ahs 36w (or 55) kit into an all-glass fixture. i just copied the examples they show. you need to drill a couple of holes in the fixture and reflector.

their reflectors make all the difference. i think the coralife fixture has a parabolic reflector. it's adequate, but ahs' are superior.

t5ho light is more then light when figuring wpg. people say 30-40% as much when compared to PC lighting. That would be plenty of light for your 20, and a great choice. You do not need MH for a 20 gallon tank. Will be more problems then anything, take my word for it. Id go T5 defintely. Id run two of those on a 29 and use 2 bulbs as a burst. Although many people use 24x2 t5ho over a 29 and can grow anything with it. Im just a hi light freak with 150watts of MH over my 29.

ericpop27 said:

I still haven't decided which route I'm going. But I came across this item.

That would put my 20 gallon tank at 2.4 WPG and seems more reasonable to maintain. I really don't know anything about HO and the availability, durability, and quality of the lamps. I'm also going to check out the Metal Hallide fixtures.

Can anyone give me some pros and cons of the different options?

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btw you can get a 150x1 metal halide fixture with mounting legs and a hanger kit for $133 from www.fishneedit.com. You can order it with an 8000k bulb. I have it. its awesome and tom barr uses it as well.

Would this T5HO be suitable? For some reason it says "fish only".