# Handicapped in the Lighting department



## adamt (Oct 21, 2006)

I'm looking to build a fairly decent lighting setup for my 60g tank.

I just bought a suspended canopy for my tank but I want to save some bucks by building my own lighting system but I don't have any idea what I need or what I'm looking for. 

I'm pretty crafty when it comes to building stuff, but I'm not familar with what is what in the lighting department.

What would I need to build a decent lighting fixture that will do good for a 24" deep tank?


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

You may want to visit Compact Fluorescent Lighting Kits and look for the lighting options there. Those are the best CF lighting you can get over your tank.

-John N.


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## cwlodarczyk (Sep 18, 2005)

60G is 3' long, right? The 96W kit from ahsupply fits in there perfectly - have one over my tank and I can strongly recommend it.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

If you're going for CF, then I'd go with what John and Carl say and get the retrofit from AHSupply. If you want to go the T5 route, then you can get yourself a 3' T5 retrofit kit.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Yet another option, since you seem to be handy with DIY, is to overdrive some regular 3' flourescent bulbs. You can do a search on ODNO to see if this is something you would be interested in. 

I used two ODNO 3' bulbs (~90w) over a 30g tank and grew many light hungry plants very well, without a reflector!


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## adamt (Oct 21, 2006)

Actually my tank is 48LX12DX24H

Thanks for the link to the aquarium hobbyist page.

I'm going to see if my LFS can compete in pricing with the website and possibly get a 4X55 setup.

Can somebody please just tell me what light bulbs to use that will give me a good wholsome light spectrum. 
I hate getting answers like "well it depends on what you want, or it depends on what you are going for" 

I want to grow green plants in a tank with angelfish, other than that I have no idea what's going on.

Please help some more

Thanks again
Adam


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

For a good light spectrum, anything in the 5000K to 10000k range will work just fine. I find the lower numbers a bit to greenish or yellowish for my tastes while some folks find the higher number lights a bit too "pink" for their tastes.

Take a look at this thread in the lighting section. Pay attention to Jay Luto's post (#2). You can see why some folks prefer the 9325K bulbs over the 6700K bulbs. Gomer's post (#6) is also a good one with example of how different lighting looks over the same tank.

The plants don't really mind what type of lights you use so unfortunately, the best answer usually is "it depends". All of the bulbs in the pics will grow plants fine, you just have to pick which one looks best to your eyes


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## adamt (Oct 21, 2006)

That was an awesome link!

So now I have one more question.

Since I will have 4 lightbulbs
What would it look like if I put in a range of bulbs from 5000K to a GE?


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

It'll look mixed. 

The colors will blend together, and will look different to everyone. I think the link provided in post #8 is the best reference point for those mix of bulbs. You can get a good idea what it would look like to mix. I personally like the 6700k and 9325 mix.

-John N.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

With a 4x55 setup, I would use either four 9325K bulbs or mix two 9325K bulbs in the back and two 6700K bulbs in the front. The 9325 bulbs will enhance the color of the red plants and fish much more as you can see from the pics in the link.

If you are getting an AH Supply fixture, I believe they use a square pin arrangement . The GE 9325K bulbs use a straight pin (....) arrangement. I have yet to find a 9325K bulb in a square pin arrangement but I believe John N gave someone a link for an adapter earlier this week.

Again, it depends on your personal preference for the color of the bulbs, but I am partial to the 9325K lamps. The only way you can really find out what you like is to experiment  Everyone's eyes are different.


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