Lighting???

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
J

Jonny Steele

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 28, 2010
93
0
0
Bedford Texas
Ok, i have a 55 gallon and just the regular 2 hoods on the top, each with a single flor buld. Ive seen some tank where the lighting seems to make the water (glow) or a very bright apperance and makes the water look very clear. Im not sure what type of bulbs there using, but i would like to make my tank like that.

Now i see some light hoods have a spot for 2 or ever 3 bulbs, my question is, what kind of bulbs do that, and can i just replace my standard bulbs with those bulbs, or do i need to get a new lighting system that takes 2 bulbs in each hood?
 
birght lighting doesnt make your water look clear lol. in fact, if you have cloudy water, brighter lighting will make it look even worse! T5HO fixtures are very popular these days, and it's what most people run. You will need a whole new fixture though, as T5HO ballasts/bulbs are not interchangeable with other hoods.
 
get some lights that are in the blue spectrum. I think they are 1800K. They should fit right in and make the water kind of glow blue.
 
For a nice looking but cheap solution. Go to Lowe's and get a 48" T8 shop-light. They have a fixture in black that blends in nicely to the black trim of the tank. Then either get two 10,000K or 1 10,000K and 1 50/50 6500K/actinic bulbs. The actinic really makes the blues and purples stand out on the fish. The second combo is what is over my 55g seen below

IMG_2311.JPG
 
i like the PowerGlo 18,000k bulb. gives a nice hue. i personally think actinic bulbs look horrible on any freshwater tank
 
To reiterate and repeat the above

T5's
PowerGlo

I got a Lowes/HD bulb once, the lighting was far inferior
The actinic is for some people, but you definatly want at least 1 10,000k bulb


edit: rereading OP post, You can get 10,000K PowerGlo T12s (if that is what your hood uses currently)
and not replace your hood. Won't be as nice, but cheap and easy.
 
Well right now i have 2 18" bulbs, just plane of Marinelands. Im wanting the new bulbs to be bright and give the tank a "glow". I was also thinking about getting some kind of LED blue lights for a night light, my friend has a 90g salt water and has 3 small blue led's and it looks killer at night. Just got to find out where to buy them.
 
yeah my night LED's are so killer
that I put them on all my tanks and
my buddies have them too
I find that pointing them up into the 'day' fixtures
dissipates the light beautifully
into a natural moon light
 
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