Planted Aquarium Lighting

[MichaelC95]

Hello I was wondering whether I could instead of buying expensive aquarium lights could I use flourescent lighting from a Home depot for a 36" aquarium. Any Answers will be appreciated.

[2wheelsx2]

You can do anything you want as long as you get enough light for what you plan to grow. Some of the reasons aquarium lighting is especially expensive are:

1) compact fixtures which are able to dissipate heat
2) waterproof components
3) t5 and t8 which allow you to pack more tubes into a small space
4) the thinner tubes combined with highly efficient reflectors to minimize restrike and concentrate the down down instead of scattering

The only thing you have to worry about is getting the right spectrum (daylight types instead of cool white) and a colour temp that's pleasing to your eye, after that.

[MatsP]

I use standard, low-cost, light fittings from the DIY store (Wickes in this case). As long as they are kept in a place that doesn't get wet, it's fine.

For plants, you do need the right tubes. Regular "cheap" tubes from the DIY shop are not the right light mix, so plants will not be as happy with that. I have not found any alternative source for these.

--
Mats

[andywoolloo]

I have great plant growth with the regular flourescent lighting from Hagen. I use the T8 Aqua Glo, but they also sell sun glo and power glo. The Aqua glo is a more blueish which my catfish do not mind. depends what size tank light & strip housing unit you have. Mine go from 15 watt to 40 watt

I stick with low light plants:

java fern
java moss
water wisteria
amazon swords
crypts
anubias (barteri and nana)
anachrius

all grow beautiful

[apistomaster]

Any shop light dual lamp fixtures can serve uou well if you use the correct color temperature lamps.

I use Coralife Aqualights which use one 10,000K lamp and one 5000K lamp.
This fixture uses Normal Ouput, T-5 lamps which are the most efficient save the HO T-5 lamps I use on my two large display tanks.
A 28 watt, NO, T-5 lamp produces as much light with less electricity than a 48 inch T-12, 40 watt lamp.
T-5 lamps last longer in the optimum portion of their maximum out put than the T-8 and T-12 lamps. These latter last longer in how long they still burn but they drop below their optimum out put sooner and keep burning even though you may be only getting less than half the intensity across the spectrum.
T-5's burn near their optimum and then suddenly die. That is a good thing because you aren't deceived into thinking your lights are still good long after they have stopped producing as much usable light. T-5 lamp electrical efficiency is only beaten by the currently very expensive LED lamps for aquariums which are gradually being introduced. If you have very many aquariums the T-5 lamps pay for themselves in lower energy costs and while they still work they are close to their desired intensity and spectrum.
T-5 lamps are only 5/8 inch in diameter so they are very low profile, space saving fixtures. Replacement lamps are only slightly more expensive to buy than T-8 and T-12 lamps.

[racoll]

For plants, you do need the right tubes. Regular "cheap" tubes from the DIY shop are not the right light mix, so plants will not be as happy with that.

It is my understanding that the "daylight" tubes at the DIY shop are identical to the aquarium "daylight" tubes, and therefore fine.

Lots of planted tank people use cheap tubes from the DIY shops.

Have you noticed that all tubes in the aquarium store say "great for plants" on the packaging!?

I think it is the wattage that matters, rather than the colour temperature, which is just cosmetic really.

The only problem with DIY store tubes, is that there are fewer colour temperatures to choose from.

They seem to be either "daylight" which is quite yellowish, or "cool white" which looks better, but doesn't bring out the reds in the fish as well as say a "grolux". It might look a bit too clinical to some, but I am okay with that.

[2wheelsx2]

It is my understanding that the "daylight" tubes at the DIY shop are identical to the aquarium "daylight" tubes, and therefore fine.

I'm not sure if you're basing this on personal experience, but that's false. If that were case, there would not be entire planted tank sites such as plantedtank.net or aquaticplantcentral.com with entire sections just on lighting. That generalization is as false as "Catfish are all the same and can be housed in 75 degrees C on a sand substrate if the tank is at least 20 gallons".

[racoll]

I'm not sure if you're basing this on personal experience, but that's false.

Why? What is the difference?

Aren't they just the same bulbs repackaged?

This backs up my experience, as I have grown plants [seemingly] just as well under these commercial tubes, as with aquarium plant tubes costing a lot more.

Lighting is rarely the limiting factor of plant growth in the home aquarium, so especially on a tank without CO2, I would not be worrying too much about the minutiae of different spectral peaks.

[2wheelsx2]

I'm not sure if you're basing this on personal experience, but that's false.

Why? What is the difference?

Aren't they just the same bulbs repackaged?

I typed out a long response, but in essence, you're 100% correct, if you want to grow a swordplant or 2 in sand, it doesn't matter. But if you want your tank to look like these, then it does:

15 gallon grown with NOT5, Excel and EI dosing:


20 gallon with CO2, EI dosing and power compact 8000K All glass power compact:


125 gallon with CO2, 4 sets of NO Coralife T5's, EI dosing:


Can you show me comparable results with DIY bulbs from Home Depot please?

To the OP, I apologize if this is not what you are after. If you are after a couple of swordplants in sand, then yes, but all means, you can even grow them with incandescent bulbs. I know I did when I started. But I'm a few decades beyond that now.

[andywoolloo]

beautiful. much respect to the massive lighting and co2 subjects out there!

one day i will attempt that.

[racoll]

Can you show me comparable results with DIY bulbs from Home Depot please?

You didn't answer my question What is the difference between the bulbs?

I just checked on the UK Aquatic Plant Society Forum. Sadly you have to join to read it, but essentially there is a whole (very long) thread devoted to using significantly cheaper (than equivalent aquarium brands) price T5 bulbs from "regular" bulb manufacturers such as Osram and Philips and Sylvania.

Nice tanks by the way.

[2wheelsx2]

Can you show me comparable results with DIY bulbs from Home Depot please?

You didn't answer my question What is the difference between the bulbs?

I just checked on the UK Aquatic Plant Society Forum. Sadly you have to join to read it, but essentially there is a whole (very long) thread devoted to using significantly cheaper (than equivalent aquarium brands) price T5 bulbs from "regular" bulb manufacturers such as Osram and Philips and Sylvania.

Nice tanks by the way.

Thanks. My problem is not with the brand. My problem was with cool white. Cool white is the wrong Kelvin and spectrum for growing plants. Any proper spectrum bulb from any brand can grow plants. For instance, try putting in 400 watts of actinics in a 100 gallon and see what happens. You'll grow plants alright, but it'll be the lower forms -- algae.

You didn't answer my question about showing tanks grown with cool white.

[racoll]

Here you go, a tank under an even whiter "daylight" 6500K bulb from this post at http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=555. Credit to original poster.



The standard names for colour temperature are:

2700K -- Very Warm White
3000K -- Warm White
3500K -- White
4000K -- Cool White
6500K -- Daylight

Colour temperature will not influence plant growth. This colour rendition is for our human benefit only. You can grow plants just effectively under 2700K, it just looks very yellow. I have actually grown plants under actinics! Only Java fern, but it grew well, and there was no algae.

A quality triphosphor 590mm T5 at 6500K can be picked up for as little as £3, while the equivalent Juwel T5 at 6800K retails at £22.11.

They seem to be either "daylight" which is quite yellowish,

I actually meant to say "warm white" here. Funnily, I think I was confused as Hagen market a "Sun-Glo" lamp with a really low, yellowish colour temperature.

[Bas Pels]

above most tanks I use the regular Philips 830 and 840 TLs. 830 means color 3000 K, 840 4000 K. threse cost 4,50 Euro, or so.

However, I think 4000 K is too bleu, while 3000 K is too yellow. So I happened to find Sylvania tubes @ 3500 K. I paid 6,50 for them, and I took 25. So now I can also light tanks with 1 tube according to my taste

The plants? They don't car, and I'm quite fanatic with Echionodorus.

[2wheelsx2]

Here you go, a tank under an even whiter "daylight" 6500K bulb from this post at

I am not sure what this picture shows, as my tanks are grown with daylight (6500K - 10000K bulbs) also. If you'll reread my post, my 20 gallon is grown with 8000K bulbs and I have some 10000 K bulbs in the 125. What I don't have is any tanks with < 5000K bulbs, or any tanks with "cool white" bulbs.

And Bas Pels, your Echinodorus is not going to care, but your Blyxa Japonica, and your Rotala Wallichii will likely care.

[Bas Pels]

And Bas Pels, your Echinodorus is not going to care, but your Blyxa Japonica, and your Rotala Wallichii will likely care.

I'm certain you are right - but I don't have those plants. Perhaps that's a good thing - for them and me

[2wheelsx2]

Hahaha....yeah, the Blyxa might make it, but the Rotala wouldn't last too long in most pleco tanks. I know mine didn't.

Once again, for the OP's benefit, if the objective is to just grow a few plants in sand/gravel, there's no reason not to grab any old bulb and fixture from a home improvement center. But if you are after a really nicely planted tank, not only do you have to consider lights, but substrate, CO2/Excel and fertilizers, unless you have a huge fish load.

The more I get into this, the more I think that a really nicely planted tank doesn't really suit most catfish except maybe the common Ancistrus because there would be way to much light for the fish's comfort level.

My next tank is going to be a relatively low maintenance, dimly lit tank for some Geophagus and L134's.

[MatsP]

The more I get into this, the more I think that a really nicely planted tank doesn't really suit most catfish except maybe the common Ancistrus because there would be way to much light for the fish's comfort level.

This is why I keep saying "you have to choose between a planted tank with fish or a tank with fish and plants" - there are obviously intermediate choices too, but essentially, you choose if the most important thing in the tank is plants or fish.

My next tank is going to be a relatively low maintenance, dimly lit tank for some Geophagus and L134's.

Sounds very nice. Unfortunately, after my tank-shuffling, I'm down to a measly two eartheaters. I'm sure I'll get some new ones eventually...

And to clarify on the original posters question a bit further:
For heavily planted tanks with high-tech equipment any light fitting may well work, but you need tubes that are good for the plants. This often means high-output tubes with a spectrum that is different from your average home-depot type lights. With some digging, you may well be able to find something from a specialist that specializes in lighting solutions, rather than from the LFS - and if so, it's probably cheaper. I'm sure that Hagen and Arcadia don't actually produce their own fluorescent tubes. They just buy tubes from one of the large companies that make fluorescent tubes on order - they may specify what they want, but the actual tube is made by some company whose sole business is to produce fluorescent tubes. It's not entirely trivial to produce fluorescent tubes, and the companies selling the tubes aren't mega-corporations that will sink many millions in a plant just to produce some fluorescent tubes.

--
Mats

[apistomaster]

T-5 lamps of normal output are more efficient than T-8 or T-12 in that they produce the same amount of intensity at any given color temperature so you get all the light but at a much lower electrical consumption.

Their slenderness allows very low profile fixtures and I can assure you they grow plants as well as the larger diameter lamps of similar lengths.
HO T-5 are less efficient but produce so much more light that it is still less expensive to run them than larger diameter HO fluorescent lamps.

[racoll]

I am not sure what this picture shows, as my tanks are grown with daylight (6500K - 10000K bulbs) also. If you'll reread my post, my 20 gallon is grown with 8000K bulbs and I have some 10000 K bulbs in the 125. What I don't have is any tanks with < 5000K bulbs, or any tanks with "cool white" bulbs.

I think this makes my point quite well, i.e. it doesn't matter at all what colour temperature the bulbs are, and there is even sufficient photosynthetically active radiation with lower colour temp bulbs.

The only reason nobody uses these is because they look ugly, rather than it not being possible to grow plants under them.

I do agree that I would aesthetically prefer "daylight" 6500K over "cool white" 4000K.

Even so, these "daylight" tubes are readily available in DIY stores, and at a fraction of the price of equivalent aquarium models.

If I were to be going down the full CO2 and fertilisation route I would definitely get multiple higher quality tri-phosphor T5 tubes, but these are still cheap as (less than £3!).

[zipper]

Can you show me comparable results with DIY bulbs from Home Depot please?

You didn't answer my question What is the difference between the bulbs?

I just checked on the UK Aquatic Plant Society Forum. Sadly you have to join to read it, but essentially there is a whole (very long) thread devoted to using significantly cheaper (than equivalent aquarium brands) price T5 bulbs from "regular" bulb manufacturers such as Osram and Philips and Sylvania.

Nice tanks by the way.

I agree with Racoll here to a certain degree. Home Depot and Lowes may not carry HO T5 bulbs or even larger PC bulbs (55w, 96w types) but they do carry standard T12 and even T8 flourescents in a wide range of kelvin ratings and CRI indexes. They really are the same as those over priced "planted tank" bulbs you find in LFS. Vitalite was the original plant tank bulb and those were only found in hardware stores back in the late 80s. In the early 90s, Lowes carried a Vitalite equivalent. it was rated at 5500k and had a CRI of 93. I forget the brand of it now, but it was all I used (It retailed for about 9 bucks for a 40w bulb) I soon opted to use stronger lighting like PC and later T5 bulbs to follow the trends, and because typical hardware stores had no need to carry these things, I had to find other sources. Fast forward to today, I have moved my focus in this hobby back to fish so I no longer blast my tanks with excessive light, bubble CO2, or fertilize twice a day. I am now strictly low tech, and back to those cheap bulbs that aren't "made for aquariums". This means I cannot grow all those fancy stemmed plants, but they certainly are not needed to have a beautiful under water garden.

here is a really bad picture of my 100 gallon. 80 watts (2x40w daylight bulbs, 6500k) No CO2, no EI, 50% wc per week.

[apistomaster]

Good looking tank and Java Fern varieties make a good choice for low to moderately lit tanks.
I use NO-T-5 lamps because over time they save me money and I have low clearance between rows on my tank shelves.

I do use HO T-5 on my larger wild Discus tanks but I only use one lamp per two lamp fixtures and grow few if any plants since wild Discus are not usually found among aquatic plants. I use large branches of wood and fine natural silica river sand.

[sdm]

Hello I was wondering whether I could instead of buying expensive aquarium lights could I use flourescent lighting from a Home depot for a 36" aquarium. Any Answers will be appreciated.

This tank has two of the cheap shop light fixtures above it, with 4 of the 40w, 6500k Philips daylight tubes which I actually get from Home Depot. There's no CO2 and the plants are not varieties that demand a lot of light, but I'm pleased with it.

[dw1305]

Hi all,
The various posters are right, as long as their is sufficient PAR plants will grow, and the light colour (K value) and CRI are both irrelevant. As UKAPS has been mentioned, I'll put in a plug for it, it is well worth joining if you are interested in planted tanks, and particularly if your are looking to go high tech.

For those who aren't members of UKAPS, have a look here: "Linear HO T5 Lighting On The Cheap" <http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/lighting.htm> I'd highly recommend the whole site for those who are going down the CO2/EI route.

cheers Darrel

[MatsP]

There is an interesting webpage here that shows what the tank looks like with a number of different fluorescent tubes, as well as spectrum analysis of some tubes.

http://saurama.aqua-web.org/index.htm

The site is in Finnish, but the pictures of tubes is "universal".

--
Mats

[Hellspawn]

I use a normal T8 Philips TL lamp 120 cm long Colorcode 840 cool white. And 2 halogen bathroom build in spots. Changed the lamps inside to LED ones. Not as much light, but a lot better! Gives a nice bluish glow on the front of the tank in the evening, when the TL is turned off. Tried to get that on photo, hasn't worked yet. I don't know why.

Light fixture for the TL was the most expensive, because I bought a special aquarium fixture (€30 I believe). TL lamp itself is €5, bathroom fixtures €5 a set of 3 (el cheapo at the local Action store!), and €5 a piece for the LED lamps. Change to LED was not only because of the environment, but also because those lamps would burn out really quick because of the water below them. They can't take water droplets on the bulb itself.

Since I'm redecorating my tank, the lid was off wich was a great opportunity for a picture.


Tank with daylight lighting. It was up and running for no more than a couple of hours at the time, wich explains the milky colored water.

[coelacanth]

As long as you know what spectrum you're after, try here http://www.lampspecs.co.uk/
Probably only worth it if you're buying numbers TBH, due to delivery costs, or share with few of you.

Or just buy the same tubes, repackaged, at 3x the cost, with an aq. manufacturers name on...

[apistomaster]

If you build your own cover I recommend that you paint the interior white to get more out of your lighting.
Also use a cover glass to proctect the electrical components from condensation.

[TwoTankAmin]

I am a big planted tank fan and, at any time I have 8-10 planted tanks that range from low light to injected co2. I strongly urge folks who want to learn about lighting a planted tank and about the various options to read the following two articles:

1. Karen Randall's "Lighting for the Planted Tank" which can be found at http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/l ... d_tank.php

2. Richard Sexton's "Artificial lighting" which can be found at http://www.aquabotanic.com/artlit.htm

[Hellspawn]

If you build your own cover I recommend that you paint the interior white to get more out of your lighting.
Also use a cover glass to proctect the electrical components from condensation.

Not only the electrical parts, also the wood! Or else it starts to soak up the water. One problem, and the only one I have with my cover.