# Need to figure out lighting...



## Flyby Stardancer (Jun 19, 2013)

Okay, so I have a 6 gallon tank that I need to start setting up, and I want to have it as a low-light low-tech planted tank. My hope is to do as much of the tank DIY as I can, though I have basically no tools. A screwdriver, scissors, and an exacto-knife. I also have no real electricity knowledge, so wiring together individual LEDs is out of the question.

The tank came with a lid, but the lid only had a clear panel over about 1/3 of the top, no lights. It's also 18" long, too short for purchasing a shop light at Home Depot. Here's what the lid looks like:










I'm debating between a more standard flourescent set up, but I'd also like to try playing around with LEDs... It would likely have to be the LED bulbs they make, even though those only come in 5000k. Cost is a deciding factor, I can't spring $100 for a light kit, for instance. And getting a different lid would be difficult, because it's an unusual size tank, and so I can't run out to the pet store and find something in their stock that fits.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Lol I hear you about unusually sized tanks. My 33 gallon is a flat back hexagon, yeah try finding me a lid for that >.<

I caution against LED's, while they light up really nicely, you basically can't grow much under them at all. Java Ferns and Anubias will thrive but that's about it, so if that's all you're really going for then great! Good luck to you! lol

You can't use one of those under cabinet lighting things? I've been looking at DIY lighting myself for my 10 gallon once my canopy comes in I'll actually be able to do it. I was just going to use those Clamp On Lights: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerci...escent-Clamp-Light-CE-200PDQ/100354513#header two of those hanging or sitting on the glass would work really really well for your set up and mine as well. I was going to do that but it's a little more difficult with mine since I have my 10 divided in 3 so the light would have a difficult time dispersing through the tank then, but without dividers one of the 8.5 inch ones would be great!

5,000K actually isn't too bad, it's not extremely ideal but it will grow your plants just fine. I actually had to switch out one of my 3 gallon's lights from a 6,500K to a 5,000K because it was just too bright and I was afraid it was hurting my Betta's eyes! But the 5,000K is still growing everything just fine :-D


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## Flyby Stardancer (Jun 19, 2013)

From the research I've done, LEDs can be more difficult, simply because there's no easy way to tell what kind of lighting you'll get by looking at the package. With flourescents, you can get a rough idea by looking at the watts, but those aren't helpful at all with LEDs. 

Though roughly 1/3 of the tank I already have set up is Java ferns and Anubias. lol I do like them in a tank.

The under cabinet flourescents I was seeing were all the wrong color, and didn't have any sort of reflector that came with them. :/ They were the only tube flourescents that were the right length, though.

And what are those clamp-on lights under on the website??? I was looking for them and couldn't find them, and couldn't remember what they were called to search!

And as for unusally-sized tanks... I have a small hex that I want to fix up and plant... Need to see if I can fix a barely-there crack in it to use it (gaaah, why is Weld On Acrylic Cement so hard to get???)... but if I can fix it, then I'm going to need to BUILD a new lid for it, because buying a pre-made one will be impossible. I have the one it came with, but that is solid black plastic, with a teeeny-tiny feeding hole.


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## RiceFish (Feb 9, 2013)

When looking at LEDs you can measure by par levels. Depending on the substrate level and height of the tank will determine the right leds. Finnex is a great company that makes LED strips I have one myself. You can purchase the 20in or 16in Finnex fudgeray for about 60 on their website or amazon. The LEDs are at 7000k plus have a moonlight function.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

yeah you don't measure by watts for anything. Wattage just tells you how much electricity that the bulb is using, not how well it penetrates the water and all.

I gave the link to you for the small one, it's usually under hardware lighting, working lighting. Here's the bigger one too: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerci...-Clamp-Light-CE-300PDQ/100354511#.UeGqYdI3szZ

As for the under cabinet lighting, you don't need to use the tube that came with it. You can easily buy another tube for a few dollars at wal-mart or any hardware store really. But yeah you'd have to get a reflector, aluminum foil works great! Better than any mirror since mirror's like to absorb light where aluminum foil reflectors the major part of it :-D

The Finnex lights are great too, but still too expensive for me, that's why I go with the fluorescent.


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## Flyby Stardancer (Jun 19, 2013)

That's why I said wattage gave you a rough idea, not that it was the best way to tell.  So many tutorials and articles still categorize low/medium/high lights for planting by their watts/gallon. PAR is best, but there's no handy tutorial for figuring it out! Not even one with a formula laid out for those of us who aren't scared of a little math.

And I'd need a reflector that could sit on top of the tank lid, which the under-cabinet ones are useless for. Until I can get my multi-tank stand purchased/built/placed, the 6 gal is sitting on top of a dresser. 

Yeah, Finnex is a bit too pricey for me, especially for such a small tank.


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## Flyby Stardancer (Jun 19, 2013)

Also, one concern I had with the clamp lights is the lid blocking out a lot of the light. That clear strip in the center is only maybe 2" deep. It's really not a great set up, but it's what I have to work with


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

You don't actually have to use the clamp, you can just basically buy it for the reflector and you can set it on top of the lid so that the bulb is shining down into the tank.

Or you can pay someone, I think Home Depot might do it, to cut out pieces of plexi-glass to use as a lid instead. Just take your measurements and then if you want to have a piece hinged to make feeding easier and all. That might be an option as well, still cheaper than LED's lol


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## Flyby Stardancer (Jun 19, 2013)

Even with the reflector sitting on top, the reflector would be about the same diameter as the tank's depth. If I remember right, it's only 6 or 8 inches from the front to the back of the tank. 

I'd be hesitant to get something cut, because I'm going to have equipment that needs to come out the back. I'm thinking of a sump filter, as well as space for a digital thermometer. (I have one of those cheap glass thermometers. It wasn't worth the $1.50 I paid for it. Digital is so much more accurate.)


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

You can get the small 5.5 clamp light, you don't have to cut anything, just place it on top of the glass there.

You can always half the front half as the plexi-glass and then get something like plastic mesh so you can cut out where you want the filter and stuff and it's not permanent so you can just replace the mesh when you want to move things around. Still leaves room for a light on top.


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## Flyby Stardancer (Jun 19, 2013)

And neither of those would start to melt and bow from the light? CFLs might be cooler than incandescents, but they still put off heat.

Eh, since I'm thinking about putting a sump right behind it, I could also end up clamping lights to that...


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## Ilikebutterflies (May 19, 2012)

How about a strip light? All Glass brand 12" screw in type on Amazon.com for $18. That should be plenty of light for plants.


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## Flyby Stardancer (Jun 19, 2013)

Ilikebutterflies--DIY and semi-DIY is the goal for the tank, as a learning experience for me. That, and I looked at the $18 All Glass one... The bulb is 8 watts. A bit low for a 6 gal tank. Thank you, though!


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## VJM (Feb 7, 2013)

LEDs work just fine. Like any light source, you have to know what to look for. If you just want low light, a Marineand single or double bright might be fine. 

If you want to DIY, people do LEDs every day. YouTube has a bunch of videos, and other forums have lots of tutorials. 

I like LEDs for the bulb longevity, the plant growth results, and the lower tank temperature.


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## Flyby Stardancer (Jun 19, 2013)

VJM, most of those LED tutorials involve soldering, which is beyond me. :/ And the only non-soldering ones are expensive kits.

The LED I'm looking at is this bulb. It's a 9 watt 5000K bulb that puts out 800 lumens, and is the same size/shape as the old standard household incandescent (is supposed to replace a 60 watt incandescent). The label calls it omnidirectional.

And I just took measurements. Empty, the tank is 18" L x 8.5" D x 12" H. The clear panel on the current lid is 16" x 3". I may go with lilnaugrim's idea of the plexiglass and craft mesh for a lid instead.


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## VJM (Feb 7, 2013)

You could try buildmyled.com

Contact the company that makes any light you are interested in, and ask for their PAR numbers. Then you can actually compare. 

I have the 18" Deep Blue Solar Flair 115 on my 18" tank, and I like it quite a bit.


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## Flyby Stardancer (Jun 19, 2013)

Holy cow, the LED fixtures at that site are expensive! Not to mention that they look like a lot more light than I'll need. They look like enough for a high-light tank, which are too much work for me.


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

Well I have so many tanks and did not realize how much I would like plants in all of our tanks, so that being said I bought a few that did not have hood with proper or enough lighting and when you start looking around hoods by themselves get pricey one day we were at petco and they had these on clearance for 9 dollars http://www.zoomed.com/db/products/E...Qcm9kdWN0Q2F0ZWdvcnkiO3M6ODoiTGlnaHRpbmciO30=
we bought all they had and I got regular cheap screen lids at wally world for 7 bucks, I see you have a lid and the tank is a 6 gallon maybe this one will work http://www.zoomed.com/db/products/E...Qcm9kdWN0Q2F0ZWdvcnkiO3M6ODoiTGlnaHRpbmciO30= 
you can sit it over the glass on your current hood maybe


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Have you Googled aquarium strip light? They cost about what a full fluorescent hood would cost. :-(


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## Flyby Stardancer (Jun 19, 2013)

I called Cree this morning, to see what kind of PAR output their bulb has so that I could figure out if it would work or not for an aquarium... And they had no idea what I meant by PAR. That does not bode well for them having done the testing to know. :/


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Ahhh, well that's interesting lol


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## Flyby Stardancer (Jun 19, 2013)

Okay, there's a display here at Home Depot, and it looks really really bright. Might get it and do an experiment with it and some plants in a bucket, see how well the do.


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