# 150 watts over 1.5 gallon tank



## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

yes you read it right, i am doing 100 watts/gal over my new 1.5 gallon tank. i decided to make a nano for my office, i do physical therapy in a nursing home, and figured that the patients would get a kick out of the tank.

ok i am doing this project with all WALMART stuff, makes it even more fun 

ok, first off, i got the new 1.5 gallon cube and thought that it's 9 led lights would be cool, but they sucked, so i decided to DIY the lighting. i chose 2x 20 watt CF lights that equal 75 watts each. i chose CF lighting because it uses less electricity, so there is a lesser chance i will get in trouble for it, and secondly it emits less heat, which could be a problem. anyways:

the tank stock as walmart sells it, has a nice little filter and light:



















and the tank with the lights i will install in it:










i will be doing this hopefully tonight, but a week tops so stay posted.

as for the scape, i will be using HC and possibly some petite nana or somthing in the back, with a few rocks. it will be housing a betta, a couple cherry shrimp, and some ramshorn snails.

any questions or comments, please post away!


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Neat, it'll be interesting to see how you're going to mount the lights above the tank. With such a light fish load, are you planning to remove the internal filter for more room and aesthetics? Also, correct me if I'm wrong i always though 2x20 CF light is just 40 watts over the tank. So in essence your tank is actually about 4.0 wpg.

All in all, looking forward to the upcoming updates.

-John N.


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## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

ya, i guess that's right. i didn't really think about it. it is the equivelant of 2x75 watt house bulbs, but you are correct, it's 40 watts cf.

thanks, i got so excited i made that mistake 

russell


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## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

ok, all done but the paint, which i have on hand


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

2x20 = 40 watts of CF over the tank, minus re-strike and inefficient reflectors will give you about 25-30 watts of light into the tank. 2.5-3.0WPG.


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## darkfury18 (Apr 28, 2006)

it's still a 1.5 gallon tank... not considering how the wpg rule degrades at this size, it's still 15+ wpg


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Nice looking tank hood you got there! I think you even built a mini stand for it or is that just the base of the aquarium? The adapters to install those CF bulbs are genius! I always thought I would have to break open a lamp to get those things, never knew they sold "adapters" that can plug straight into an extension cord.

Now for the plants and scape! 

-John N.


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## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

it's actually a small stand that comes built onto the aquarium, it has a neat little slide out drawer for stashing goodies in.

40 watts / 1.5 gallons is 27watts/gal, which after you consider the size of the tank watts/gal is nothing, i just figured it would be "enough" light. i really detest the size and look of the hood. it is very functional, but not very pleasing to the eye. my wife hates it and calls it a waste of money 

anyways, i am thinking of maybe extending a small black pole from the base where the origional light hooked in, and hanging the 2 bulbs horizontal above the tank and have no hood. that way i could make a small light enclosure and still keep the nano look. right now it kinda reminds me of one of those mushrooms off of super mario.  anyways, here is the pic with the lights off, sorry about the poor quality:


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

epicfish said:


> 2x20 = 40 watts of CF over the tank, minus re-strike and inefficient reflectors will give you about 25-30 watts of light into the tank. 2.5-3.0WPG.


Er, my bad. 16.6-20WPG. My brain is slower than my fingers. =)


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## corbius (Aug 14, 2005)

Hello,
are u sure that 150w is recommended for ure tank becaus you should have explosion of algae with this setup  ANd this top is not very esthetic :lol:
sorry for my english, i'm french


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## Blacksunshine (Aug 11, 2006)

This could go one of two ways real quick with that much light. 
Should be interesting to see how this project works out. 

Great thinking with those adapters. you have given me an idea for one of my "other" growing projects.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Ah, yes the top canopy is a little reminiscent of one of those Russian Top hats they wear in the winter. 

To cut the height of the canopy, is there space to mount the bulbs horizontally? 
With a tank this small, maybe a simple desk lamp will surfice?

-John N.


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## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

i am working on that. my buddy is coming over tonight (he is a heavy reefer) so they are usually good at diy stuff  maybe we can come up with a hanging pendant type setup for the bulbs. and then here come the plants, i was thinking of maybe starting off with glosso and a few fast growers to see how it will work.....

russell


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## YzMxer99 (Jul 17, 2006)

Wow, I'm interested in how this is going to hang on with that much light. I just redid my red sea .75g nano with hc and hairgrass. They are both spreading like crazy and the hc pearls like no other with the 20w spiral over the top. I can tell that I'm on the brink of GSA disaster too. lol Good luck and stay on top of the ferts and water changes.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

YzMxer99 said:


> Wow, I'm interested in how this is going to hang on with that much light. I just redid my red sea .75g nano with hc and hairgrass. They are both spreading like crazy and the hc pearls like no other with the 20w spiral over the top. I can tell that I'm on the brink of GSA disaster too. lol Good luck and stay on top of the ferts and water changes.


Where did you get the .75g nano? I'm looking for something for my desk... =)


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## corbius (Aug 14, 2005)

im' perplexed....:roll: because of the algae.....


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## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

what do you mean corbius? 

honestly, i don't think i will have algae problems, at least in the long term. i planted some temporary plants for now to get it going: glosso in the front half, 4 stems of bacopa colorata, and 4 stems of moneywort.


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

for the game of it, are you still restricting yourself to wal-mart goodies only?

i was thinking... you might be able to get away with one of those bulbs and mount it in a single desklamp (as someone stated) and have it stand a number of inches above the tank. You could then run withOUT a top... since the tank is so small, i think you could EASILY get some plants to grow OUT of the tank... i had a vivarium and some of the plants ended up looking SWEET when they broke the surface. it could look pretty good if you could find one or two plants that grew out of the top... that's just my thought.

of course... if the light isn't enough, you could get two desk lamps and still make it look appealing 

oh... another brainstorm... you could get a piece of wood that also broke the surface of the water. you could then mount some anubias to it (whatever species you want). have the rhizome and roots pretty much in the water, but the leaves starting to grow out. it'll be one very happy plant! you might need to use anubias nana though (the small stuff) cuz... normal varieties get huge FAST when they are grown emersed (my experience at least).


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## YzMxer99 (Jul 17, 2006)

epic, its the redsea nano that comes with a HOB and clip on light. I got it at a LFS.

As for the reality of the situation, I agree with the guys that a desk lamp with one screw in. I've got my light sitting on the side of the tank with the light bent over, inches from the water in the middle. It does the job perfectly. 

P.s what are you going to do for Co2?


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## corbius (Aug 14, 2005)

russell said:


> what do you mean corbius?
> 
> honestly, i don't think i will have algae problems, at least in the long term. i planted some temporary plants for now to get it going: glosso in the front half, 4 stems of bacopa colorata, and 4 stems of moneywort.


i mean that i u have more light than plants can absorb... algae will grown... its natural
we recommend 1w/liter in a planted tank.. here u have more than 50w/liter in a nano


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## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

as for the lights, i am still looking for a small double light lamp that i can turn into a diy lighting system. as for the co2, i am using flurish excel, it has worked in the past. 

so far so good, the glosso is starting to perk up, and the stem plants have definately turned towards the light, no sign of algae yet, im keeping my fingers crossed.

russell


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## YzMxer99 (Jul 17, 2006)

Gotta say, excel is amazing. Post some updated pics


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## corbius (Aug 14, 2005)

sure


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

If you want to increase your reflector effeciency a bit, consider spray painting the inside of your light enclosure with white paint or reflective paint. I've had decent results with Rust-oleum Specialty Metalic silver paint. 

Rounding the corners with mylar (PET film) would help too, but it might be too hot in the enclosure to safely do that.

Looking forwards to the results of this.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

Well my 55 gallon have only 90W...


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## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

i usually run 3-4 wpg, but for such a small price i wanted to try more


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Always with your bacopa and glosso...

 nice to see ya again russ, interesting idea w/ the lighting.


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## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

hey zap, what's up?

it's good stuff man!! easy, fast growing, and good looking, what else do u want??


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## dekstr (Oct 30, 2007)

Wow!!!!!!!! So it's seriously 150 watts? That's like overkill... but then I guess 150 watts is nothing compared to the sun.

If plants could get tan, then your plants are going to be massively sun-burnt!!!!


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## Mr. Fish (Oct 24, 2007)

I was curious on if algea issues would appear as well....
Always thought too much light was fuel for algea....


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

Heh heh!

All this "watts per gallon rule" stuff. Remember it's an estimate, not a rule. Even with different tube types producing different amounts of light per watt (+/- 50 percent), the trick is getting it down into the tank which can add a level of boost of over 200 percent.

Gut feel is that two CF spirals with a minimum reflector above a small tank should get one to the "medium-high" to "high" light level. Should work well and don't think it will be a too much light scenario. For cost and ease of construction this is a quite nice project.


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## sayshrimp (Nov 5, 2007)

Wow that's cool I like it.


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## orlando (Feb 14, 2007)

Keep on keepin on, thats cool. Thanks


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## dekstr (Oct 30, 2007)

Can't wait to see updated pictures!
I'm thinking either steroid-like, massive plants or a plague-like-scale-algae-infestation. Or so much light that the hood sets on fire, or water gets boiled.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

This should be good for making tea, if it proves to be too much for the aquarium.


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## corbius (Aug 14, 2005)

hoppycalif said:


> This should be good for making tea, if it proves to be too much for the aquarium.


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: 
i prefer coffea  :ranger:
no updates????


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## dekstr (Oct 30, 2007)

I forgot to mention. Be careful about fires. Water + lots of electricity and heat in one spot = danger!


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## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

hehe

i actually took the hood apart here recently. i did get a bit of gsa about 1 month in. the glosso filled in nicely, but the bacopa looked stunted, maybe a co2 issue. i just didn't have time for this little aquarium. i keep 2 saltwater tanks 120g and 29g. and i keep 5 fw tanks 36 gal, 2x 10g, 30g, and one emersed tank that is about 3 square foot. 

however, as a small trial, i just made a led lighting array for this tank using 18 5mm led's. i will link to it when i make the post.


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## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

here's the link:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...ts/45865-1-5-gallon-led-array.html#post341357

it's an led array. it probably won't work well eather but it was fun!


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## Adragontattoo (Jun 3, 2007)

Here is a similar hood I use on my 15h with NO issues.


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## Amazon_Replica (Nov 24, 2007)

If i might add a thought to the lighting? If you go to your local hardware/home improvement store. Get some 1/2" or even 3/8" Black Iron Pipe. You can set the tank on a small square of plywood, with a "lip" of plywood extending behind the tank. With the BIP get 2 floor flanges, the pipe threads into the flange, and the flange screws to wood. You could possibly even run the wiring inside the pipe. A few elbows and another smaller strip of plywood, mount the lights to it, and another floor flange above and there it is. I would try it. it would look very similar to the original light rig, much more so than the canopy.


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