# Lighting Questions



## Rob Tetrazona (Jun 21, 2005)

*This is a cross-post of mine from GCAS:*

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A long time ago, I bought a Perfecto 10 gallon aquarium kit. I'm setting up a Cherry Red Shrimp tank that I'd like to plant with Java Ferns & Java Moss. The light fixture uses 18" florescent T8 bulbs. I've been searching around online and I can only seem to find 15W bulbs. I'd like to find at least a 20W 18" T8 to get up to 2WPG.

Does anybody know where to find 18" T8 bulbs of 20W or greater?

Another route could be to overdrive the ballast. Can I do this without melting the plastic hood or light molding?

Do they make double bulb light fixtures for 10 gallon tanks?
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As crazy as it sounds, I'm really anxious about aquascaping this tank. Maybe that's because I'm used to aquascaping 75's!

I'm shooting for a low tech tank to cater to the Java Ferns. Any suggestions?


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

I think the single 15w fixture is plenty for Java Ferns, Java Moss and Anubias. I have used two of the 15w single strip lights over my 10g tank in the past and had issues with algae, mainly diatom algae that would not go away. I dosed up to 5ml of Excel daily in this tank but still could not overcome the algae. I still have traces of algae in this tank even though the second fixture has been off of the tank for nearly a year now. 20w may be just about right for these tanks though.

I do not think there is any other wattage for a 18" T-8 bulb. You may be able to overdrive it to get into the 22.5w range but I don't have much experience with the smaller bulbs. DO NOT try to overdrive a magnetic ballast! It can't be done and may result in a fire! 

That said, I believe you have to overdrive the smaller bulbs in series so the ballast thinks it is a larger bulb...i.e. you use two leads of a 2x32 ballast to drive 2 15w bulbs. By wiring them in series, the ballast sees a longer bulb and adds more power to it. If you supply the ballast and bulbs, I would be more than willing to lend a hand with the wiring and I imagine Jim would be also. 

In my experience, double overdriven bulbs do not get any hotter than a Compact Flourescent bulb and may even stay cooler. If you can mount a ballast to the outside of the fixture you can keep the heat levels even lower inside the fixture. 

I do know a semi-retired cabinet maker who would be more than willing to make a few "no-frills" 10g hoods out of 1/2" MDF if he could get a little help with the supplies and wiring


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

I did a bit of research on overdriving smaller lights at Planted Tank. PT has a great deal of info on ODNO. I would think a 1x32 ballast woud be quite capable of running two 18" bulbs wired in series. After all, two 18" bulbs wired in series should show the same load to a ballast as a 36" bulb right?

 Bulbs in series Image

I don't think this would actually be overdriving the bulb if you use a single 1x32w ballast as you would only have a single red or blue lead versus both a red and blue lead like in the pic. I don't think you would actually want to overdrive them since you want a low tech tank. All we would need to do is come up with an idea for a hood (I would prefer a full canopy myself) and build it


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## Rob Tetrazona (Jun 21, 2005)

Nice response, Matt!

I'll just stick with the single 15W bulb, no overdriving or anything fancy. Simple is good.

I have considered DIY CO2, but this is going to be a Cherry Red Shrimp breeding tank, so I'll have an Azoo sponge filter going on it which makes it's fair share of surface turbulence, so it seems like a lot of CO2 would be lost at the surface, neutralizing it's effect. 

Shrimp are quite Nitrogen sensitive, so I was thinking of dosing Potassium Phosphate, Potassium Sulfate, & CSM+B only. This should help the plants keep the nitrates from building up as quickly and hopefully cause less water changes which mainly reduce nitrates.

Does this sound reasonable for the plants & the shrimp?

That's the 2nd plug you've had recently to build a hood. Got the itch to be handy?


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

The single bulb will probably be sufficient for the plants. I always hear that shrimp are nitrate sensitive but I do remember Tom Barr experimenting with Amano Shrimp and nitrates. It was not until he got over 100ppm that he experienced some shrimp losses. I don't think most of us plant folks have anything like that in our tanks but you can probably get by without dosing any nitrates after the tank has been set up for a while.

I would still initially dose 3-5ppm of nitrates so the plants have some to use while the bacteria get established. Either that or add 5ml or so of Flourish Comprehensive to the tank once a week. that will probably cover your needs and is all I dosed in my 10g tank for nearly a year. 

I'm not familiar with the Azoo sponge filter but I assume it is powered by an air pump? If so I would say you would nullify all of your CO2 if you went with DIY. I think you are better off with the filter alone and a consistent, though low CO2 level in the tank. No worries about gassing the shrimp either.

Along with nitrates, people also say shrimp are sensitive to copper but both the CSM+B and Flourish Comprehensive I add to my 10g tanks have copper in it. I could say adding the "micros" is why I lost my shrimp but they did well for over a year. I would put my money on neglect being the reason I lost my Cherry Red Shrimp 

Well, I like woodworking and basically just need an excuse to get started again. I don't want to attempt any "large" projects right now and a hood would be easy enough to complete in less than a day


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## molurus73 (Apr 15, 2005)

MatPat said:


> Well, I like woodworking and basically just need an excuse to get started again. I don't want to attempt any "large" projects right now and a hood would be easy enough to complete in less than a day


I seem to remember spending a *few* Saturdays working on *one* hood. :bounce:


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

molurus73 said:


> I seem to remember spending a *few* Saturdays working on *one* hood. :bounce:


Yes, but that was a 75g hood


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## molurus73 (Apr 15, 2005)

Whew. I thought it was all the bull crappin' we did. Now I feel much better.


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## molurus73 (Apr 15, 2005)

At least the guys over at GCAS can still treat you like you know nothing about planted tanks. Keep the ego in check ya know.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

molurus73 said:


> Whew. I thought it was all the bull crappin' we did. Now I feel much better.


We did do a bunch of BS'ing that day if I remember correctly. It's all good though, the hood got finished, eventually


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## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

MatPat said:


> Well, I like woodworking and basically just need an excuse to get started again. I don't want to attempt any "large" projects right now and a hood would be easy enough to complete in less than a day


Want to build the canopy for my 85gal? All that's needed is a sheet of 1/2" mdf....


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Troy McClure said:


> Want to build the canopy for my 85gal? All that's needed is a sheet of 1/2" mdf....


An 85g would take a bit longer to build than a 10g and without the truck, I have no way to transport a sheet of MDF...that was part of the help I was looking for in my earlier post  I would prefer to use 3/4" MDF on a tank of that size anyways. MDF, especially 1/2", would be likely to sag on lengths over 2' or so.

It is always possible though, do you have a design in mind?


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## molurus73 (Apr 15, 2005)

You know I am always down for getting some wood.


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## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

gross


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