# 29 gallon lighting options...



## Sicamore_Tree (Feb 12, 2006)

I have a 30 inch coralife 2x65 power compact fixture on my tank, but they're not t-5 bulbs, I get good growth for the most part, but I want to know if there's a 30 inch t-5 set up I can get with at least the same wattage I have now? I have Hagen C02 system running on my tank and I use seachem ferts every other day micro one day, macro the next day...


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Sicamore_Tree,

You have plenty of light, probably more than you need. If it were my set-up rather than spend $ on a different light, add a CO2 system, dry ferts, and your tank should thrive!


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## 61*north (Jun 20, 2010)

Sicamore_Tree said:


> I have a 30 inch coralife 2x65 power compact fixture on my tank, but they're not t-5 bulbs, I get good growth for the most part, but I want to know if there's a 30 inch t-5 set up I can get with at least the same wattage I have now? I have Hagen C02 system running on my tank and I use seachem ferts every other day micro one day, macro the next day...


There's not much benefit to going with a T5 lamp in your application, Sicamore. T5's generally are slightly more energy efficient and are thinner, allowing you in some instances to shave a little off the space you'd require in a commercial office application up in the plenum (ceiling) but they're not worth swapping out from say, a T8 series lamp for most of us. Oddly, they're more cost effective for a manufacturer to produce and should be more cost effective to dispose of at the end of their rated life but because they're not yet a commodity you'd never know it.

Generally speaking you'll also find the T5's more expensive to replace than whatever their T8 or T12 counterpart might be. Another thing to bear in mind is that wattage is a measure of how much power the lamps consume but not a measure of how much light they put out. When you're researching this kind of stuff keep an eye on something called "lumen output" and you'll have a better idea of how one lamp's light output compares to another.

I've been toying with a project idea about how to make these comparisons between lamps a little more effectively. The current benchmark of how much wattage you need above a tank based on how many gallons your tank holds is not very accurate at all and it gets really bad when you factor in different light sources like HID, fluorescent, and LED. Tank depth, etc. skews the info even worse. If it slows down enough this winter I'll whip out the light meter and run a few tests to see if there might be a better way of defining the issue.


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## spdskr (Apr 24, 2006)

I have the same fixture on my 29g. This is enough light for most anything you wish to grow. Your plants will be more limited by C02. What is your photoperiod? Are you battling algae with just DIY C02 fertilization?

I find the higher I turn up my C02 the faster and more lush my plants grow, therefore, the light is not the limiting factor at this point. Furthermore, my rotala, ludwigia, and limnophilia are all nicely colored. So to emphasize what the OP stated, spend your money on C02 and ferts. Your lighting is more than sufficient.


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## SueNH (Jan 17, 2005)

I'd like to know what would be a comparable amount of light with t5 bulbs. I have 2x65 pc on my 29 now and I have another 29 in the attic. Been slowly collecting cool rocks and driftwood to carry myself through the winter. I know I'll get itchy, resisted the empty tank for too long.


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## 61*north (Jun 20, 2010)

Which lamps are in it?


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## SueNH (Jan 17, 2005)

I have a 10,000 and a 6700.


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## 61*north (Jun 20, 2010)

SueNH said:


> I have a 10,000 and a 6700.


Sorry, Sue. I didn't mean to leave you hanging. Work's been a booger and I haven't logged on in a couple weeks.

The short version?

I don't know. The problem is that much of what is being sold into the aquarium market is not being sold by the manufacturer of the lamp. They're trade labeled lamps made by anonymous lamp manufacturers and sold under fixture manufacturer's labels. The fixture manufacturer may include obscure references that talk about lamp color and the like but not much detail at all about actual lamp performance.

Lumen output is the measurement of how much light a lamp actually puts out. I don't see that referenced anywhere for the lamps in your coralife fixture. Footcandles is a measurement of the light level a given distance from the lamp. You won't find that either. It's a clear sign to me that marketing people have been heavily involved in the aquarium lighting business to the detriment of the hobbyist. We've all been buying sizzle without steak.

That said, I've been wondering how to go about sorting this kind of thing without setting myself back a mint and the more I think about it the more I see that gathering objective test results isn't something that can be done cheaply.

I will find a way to get some benchmark values for different lamps over the winter but the truth of the matter is that the common references you hear as an aquarium hobbyist are useless. People talk about watts per gallon which is a measurement of how much electricity a lamp consumes but not a measurement of how much light it produces. That, combined with the different lamp efficiency rates now common make the WPG reference worthless.

I'll root around a little further to see what I can find but it likely won't be specific to the exact lamp you're using.


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## 61*north (Jun 20, 2010)

Just spent the last 1/2 hour or so rooting around for info on compact fluorescent lamps of the type we might have a use for... but on manufacturer sites. One spot I checked was Osram / Sylvania which is one of the largest lamp mfg's on the globe. 

Narry a peep about a 65w CF.

Interesting.


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