madman

I have a Oceanics Mirrored 30 Hex that is about 25 years old. When I bought it the light that came with it was a flourescent with a ballast on the cord. Well the dog ate the cord. So after I put it back together the ballast would get very warm so I pitched it. The only thing I was able to find was a small 16" strip light at petco. Thing cost me 35.00. Well it is not very bright. I was looking on Ebay and have found a couple of Nano hoods with compact flourescents that would double the wattage, Can these be set right on the glass top or would there be to much heat? Also if they can what bulbs would be best? I am also looking to upgrade the lighting on my 29 gallon so I guess the same questions would apply there also. The light would be longer though and a higher wattage. I am not looking to go with anything other than low light plants but would really like them to thrive. Also in my 55 I have a regular flourescent strip light that came with it and my plants seem to be doing fine. The Foxworth? I have had to trim back several times in 3 weeks. I have had tanks for years but just now am starting to use live plants instead of fake and there is so much imformation that it does get confusing. I asked about changing the bulbs to a light more suited for growing plants at the LFS and was told it would not make much difference without bringing the watts per gallon up. True or False? Thanks for your time Tim

Iluvatar

I dont know but plants seem to grow fine with any light
good luck with that

joy613

I know you don't want soft white bulbs. Check out the forums at www.plantgeek.net they have a lot of good stuff there.

Isabella

Hi Madman - try to read the LIGHTING section of this article: General Guide to Low-Light Planted Tanks and see if it helps you in any way.

The type of light will really depend on the kinds of plants you will have. Also, in deeper tanks light needs to be stronger than in tanks that are more shallow.

I wouldn't put a compact fluorescent lughtbulb directly on a glass top as it gets pretty heated up, not to mention lighting higher than that of the compact fluorescent lightbulbs. There are "legs" you can buy for your lighting fixture. The fixture will then rest on these legs, and not directly on the glass.