5 gallon lighting (1 Viewer)

[Guest]

Im starting my planning process for my 5.5 all glass aquarium. the dimensions are 16 3/16 X 8 3/8 X 10 1/2. Im thinking of doing maybe 4 of those screw in coralife 50/50 (10K actinic) 10 watt bulbs or i could do a 96 watt pc but it will be a little longer than the tank so my hood will look a little funny. I want it to have alot of light.
If i can find the T8 NO bulbs ill try the overdriving idea but im not sure if i can find them at this short of length. Overdriving is my first thing but if this fails what is your opion on the other ideas?

 

[Guest]

Looks like i can get 14" T-8 NO actinic and 10K lamps. 14 watts each but by overdriving them i should get 24 watts each.

 

[incysor]

Are NO bulbs significantly cheaper? Overdriving anything will significantly cut the lifespan. So you're gonna have to replace the bulbs fairly often. If you really want that much light I'd just go with a 70w MH.

B

 

[Guest]

yeah they only $5 each. 20000 hour normal life span is cute in half. Most people report that they have to change the bulbs every 6 months which is like pc bulbs. whats good about NO overdriving is you dont have the heat like pcs or MHs especially since ill only be running 2 or 3. Im going to petco to see if they carry the bulbs locally. I can use plan 65Ks but i like the blue. if i dont find them then i wont do this method on this tank.

 

[incysor]

Where are you getting bulbs? I did a bit of searching and the cheapest I could find for a 10k bulb was about $11. I wasn't seeing actctinic bulbs that size either. It'd help, (cause I'm lazy), if you'd post links to some of the stuff you're referring too. It's interesting stuff, but it's a pain to try to find some of it.

B

 

[Guest]

in the drsfosterandsmith catalog they have the GE Aqua ray Blue for $7.99, plan aqua ray 5.79, rull spectrum 6.99. Also you can use plan 65K tubes from lowes.