How to get more light? Not getting a good spread

[Pyramid_Party]

Hi,

Over my 29 gallon I have a Coralife 30" T5 NO (normal output) dual fixture. The problem is I only get alot of light in the area directly below the fixture. I sometimes move the fixture forward on some days and back on others. But the fact is it still only has direct light right under the fixture.

So anyone have any ideas on how I can get more light spread? I don't really think I could add any type of reflector to this. I was thinking about adding another fixture or replacing this fixture all together. Any suggestions? I would like to keep this low tech too. I do dose fertilizers and have DIY CO2 as well. Thx

 

[Knowdafish]

Single tube?

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Single tube of what though?

 

[JamesF]

You can either add another unit behind it, or replace it altogether. It depends on what you want to do. If you want to keep it simple, another T5 unit behind it should work faily well.

 

[jcardona1]

Raise it up.

 

[azian_kicker]

Raise it up.

x2 . The higher the light is, the better the lighting spreads.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Yeah I am gonna try and raise it but I hope it does not decrease my light intensity too much. I think I am in the low category right now. I was thinking of maybe getting a single T5 from lowes/home depot.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

I might build something like this out of PVC pipe. Only problem is I don't know how I will clamp them to the tank and what to use to hang the light from.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Maybe I can use an adhesive to glue the light fixture right to the PVC pipe. But I would want to be able to separate the pipe and fixture later.

 

[JamesF]

If you raise up a NO T5 you're not going to be able to see in your tank it will be so dark. Raising it just isn't an option with these units, the light they produce is way too weeak.