Hi I'm still a newbie I have a tl450 marine tank that I converted to my planted tank it's been running for a week I have changed the 18w 10000k bulbs to a single 11w 6500k cfl bulb the reflector is a shiny silver one. Is this light sufficient I have no algae at the moment and run lights on and off for 8.5 hours a day I also have floating hornwort please see pic of tank below Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Its a 170 L tank. One 11watt cfl won't suffice for most plants IMO. Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk
It's 45 liter tank 12 gallons I filled it with a small bucket a few time 10l bucket Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I tried to do something similar some time back. This is the advice @tyronegenade gave me via pm after I consulted with him: "The CFL would also work and I would go with 1 CFL per 30cm of aquarium. Again, make a cheap reflector with tinfoil or a soda can 2 tube lamps would be better, IME. Even with low tech tanks, a little extra CO2 goes a long way to making the tank and plants look good. DIY CO2 would be more than adequate." And on another chat "I would got with at least 11 W of CFL for low tech. I used to have 2 14 W over a 3 ft tank and plants grew." So this is what I did using a topsoil substrate on a 4 foot tank. And 4 * 14 watt cfl lights ~ low tech: Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk
more to the point ... tl tanks have loads of evaporation, how did you mount the CFL .. they hate high humidity not to mention the 240 volt death trap if you are not very careful. Later Ferdie
Hi mik786 your tank looks awesome the reflector that is with my tank is very good because I have the hornwort I thought maybe I'm blocking some light out so would it be good to put a 14w cfl or am I heading for algae issues @ f-fish+plants the light fitting is mounted to the old globe holder i leave the flap lid open for humidity but I am gonna cut out some plexiglass for the top so it doesn't effect the globe Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi just wanted to update I went looking for a 14w cfl with no luck nothing in the spectrum so I came across this 10w LED screw on bulb it's sealed so no water probs and this is not a flood light it's like a regular screw on bulb 800lumen and it's 6500k ( not from the China shops ) not sure if I'm allowed to say where I got it from on the forum Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I got it from lighting warehouse in Boksburg they had a 15w but that was round the one I got is a stick shape it's quite bright compared to my 11w cfl Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Best lm/watt and price that I am using at the moment is this LED think I am getting better growth from the above 18watt than the 24 watt ... same brand 24 only used the sunlit brand. Later Ferdie
My bulb is also sunlit I was worried that's it's some cheap globe although I did pay R50 for it Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
No it does not, that is why it is on top of the the glass top. Loads of open wires and stuff, also it gets hot - very hot other than that no complaints. Let us know how the bulb does ... always good t get more feedback. Later Ferdie
Hi just wanted to update so light is doing fine my dying water sprite that didn't want to move has New leafs Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk