Lighting for 75 gallon

[stpierce]

I am selling off the lighting system I have currently on my 75 gallon (48 1/2" x 18 1/2" x 21 3/8") and am looking to start again. I am looking to spend less than $100 and I am trying to have plenty of light for vals and other low/mid light plants with no added co2 or fertilizers. I have some basic carpentry skills but nothing special. Would yall suggest buying lighting/hood or making it myself? I am open to almost any ideas.

[sskruzr]

Check out this website as they have some reasonable retrofit kits and bulbs if you're planning on making your own hood. http://www.ahsupply.com/index.html

[mewickham]

For plants, you should ideally have 2-5 watts of light per gallon. The cheapest lights would be fluorescent shop lights. You could buy two 4' units double-bulb units and proper bulbs for them for well under $100 and have money left to build a wooden canopy. This would give you 160 watts of light, near the minimum for properly growing plants in a 75-gallon tank.

I've been using PC fluorescents and they do a great job. I've got 220 watts (4 x 55w) on a 75-gallon tank. The plants grow out of control. The link Corey posted looks interesting, but it doesn't include bulbs, which can be expensive, and may put you over the $100 budget. The 9375°K bulbs that I like are around $20 each, if I recall correctly. I believe there are 8000°K bulbs that were closer to $10, but my Cryptocorynes didn't do well under them.

I probably should note that, according to the two big dealers I visited in Baltimore earlier this month, PC fluorescents are falling out of popularity. Few dealers carry them, these days. The major manufacturers, Perfecto and All-Glass (now Aqueon) have discontinued theirs. There may have been problems with the electronic ballasts. I remember the early days of PC flourescents (not from the brands mentioned) that nearly 100% of the electronic ballasts would fail within a year. Even shop lights have them now, so they seem to have improved the reliability. The All-Glass ones I have have held up well for several years.

Anyway, I'm told that T-5 HO (high output) fluorescents are what is replacing them. So you may want to look into kits for those.

[stpierce]

I am sort of stuck in a tight place right now. I have a Current USA Satellite 48" fixture on my tank with two 460nm/10,000k 65 watt bulbs. The bulbs are at least a year old (probably closer to 3 years). I have a guy who is interested in buying the fixture for $70. The fixture is nice so I could buy new bulbs and keep it but like was said earlier compact fluorescents are getting to be tough to find and I am afraid there will be no value left in a year because you won't be able to find bulbs for it. The real kicker is that I am going to be moving in 11 months and my 75 gallon that this would all go on will not move with me so I don't want to invest too much. I guess my question is whether or not the Current USA fixture is just lighting the tank or helping plants grow? Thanks for the posts so far, they have helped me figure out what I am trying to look for.

[mewickham]

Simon, aren't the 460nm bulbs blue bulbs? Those are not what you want for your tank. You want white light for plants.

Though I have heard of people using such bulbs in combination with twice as many white bulbs for plants, it's not common, not ideal, and certainly not necessary. It's better to get a proper, bright, white light. Those blue bulbs are used in combination with white bulbs to make corals fluoresce, and really have no other good use in the hobby.

I'd just replace the bulbs in your existing unit, rather than replacing the unit.

[stpierce]

yes, they are blue bulbs (shameful face). I sort of inherited them. I didn't figure they were doing much for my plants but they were what I had and why I realized I needed something different. Thanks for confirming my suspicions on the matter.

[mewickham]

Don't feel bad. I looked at the manufacturer's site and it appears that they don't even sell the units without at least some blue bulbs in them. But they are marketing to reef hobbyists, so it is to be expected.