Question about lighting

I need to replace the light on my 29 gallon and I was considering
saving money by using a shop light.

My question, is it reasonable to hang the light a few inches above a
glass top or is it necessary for the light to rest right on the glass?

I was planning to use a 24 in light.

TIA,

Dan

"cailinsdad" wrote in message
...

I need to replace the light on my 29 gallon and I was considering
saving money by using a shop light.

That's what I use on all but my 10g tanks.

My question, is it reasonable to hang the light a few inches above a
glass top or is it necessary for the light to rest right on the glass?

Mine rest right on the tank rim but would be better a few inches off the
top. I lost the spacers I had that held them above the rim by 2".

I was planning to use a 24 in light.

If you want plants get the 2 bulb type.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 10:25:27 -0500, "Reel McKoi"
wrote:

My question, is it reasonable to hang the light a few inches above a
glass top or is it necessary for the light to rest right on the glass?

Mine rest right on the tank rim but would be better a few inches off the
top. I lost the spacers I had that held them above the rim by 2".

Cool. I was planning to hang the light about 2-3 inches from the
glass.

"cailinsdad" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 10:25:27 -0500, "Reel McKoi"
wrote:

My question, is it reasonable to hang the light a few inches above a
glass top or is it necessary for the light to rest right on the glass?

Mine rest right on the tank rim but would be better a few inches off the
top. I lost the spacers I had that held them above the rim by 2".

Cool. I was planning to hang the light about 2-3 inches from the
glass.

======================
My husband made the spacers out of leftover 2X2 pine strips. We painted
them black w/exterior enamel and VOILA! :-))
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

Do what you want, but you loose a large percentage of light when you
hang it over a tank....more than what you really t hink yu do. I
played around with a PAR and a LUX meter, and its unreal how much
light you loose. Its also unreal how much light you loose when it is
placed above a piece of glass as well.....Lots of folks use what is
called egg crate (a white or black plastic grill used in suspended
ceilings to create a diffuser for the lights, and believe it or not,
you loose 46% + of useable light just passing through this egg crate
grill and you can loose more if the grill is placed improper side
up...Its also unreal how much light is actually spilling out the sides
but it appears to look like its going down through the tank and out
the sides, when in fact it is not even entering the tank, its all
outside the tank.

There is only one way to do it an dthat is make a totally enclosed
hood. Wood is fine, and can easily be made out of 1x6. Paiant inside
white for best surface reflection (actually white is better than
mirrow is, unless you use a proper reflector, go with white paint.

You can buy a Power compact flourescent electronic ballast on line
(about $20) complete with socket that wil fire a 24 to 65 watt PC
bulb which is available in all kinds of color (kelvin temps) which is
more suitable and better than the typical tube type flourescent
lights, unless your going with T5 type.....which would be way overkill
for FW setups anyhow.......You can also buy a decent ballast at Home
Depot complete with wiring diagram for under $5 that will power up a
65 watt PC bulb. Around here we can get 34-65 watt PC bulbs of varous
kelvin for 10 to 16 bucks.......much better than any shop light or so
called plant growing bulbs .......I use 6700 to 7200 and on occassion
10K PC lights and all my plants do great.......I do not have any
lights over glass, or egg crate. I use home brew hoods I make out of
acrylic plastic, but like I said, wood is fine if its sealed....and
painted white inside for reflection unless a proper reflector is
used......




On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 10:40:40 -0500, cailinsdad
wrote:

On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 10:25:27 -0500, "Reel McKoi"
wrote:

My question, is it reasonable to hang the light a few inches above a
glass top or is it necessary for the light to rest right on the glass?

Mine rest right on the tank rim but would be better a few inches off the
top. I lost the spacers I had that held them above the rim by 2".

Cool. I was planning to hang the light about 2-3 inches from the
glass.




-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!

On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 12:18:41 -0600, ~Roy~
wrote:



Do what you want, but you loose a large percentage of light when you
hang it over a tank....more than what you really t hink yu do. I
played around with a PAR and a LUX meter, and its unreal how much
light you loose. Its also unreal how much light you loose when it is
placed above a piece of glass as well.....Lots of folks use what is
called egg crate (a white or black plastic grill used in suspended
ceilings to create a diffuser for the lights, and believe it or not,
you loose 46% + of useable light just passing through this egg crate
grill and you can loose more if the grill is placed improper side
up...Its also unreal how much light is actually spilling out the sides
but it appears to look like its going down through the tank and out
the sides, when in fact it is not even entering the tank, its all
outside the tank.

There is only one way to do it an dthat is make a totally enclosed
hood. Wood is fine, and can easily be made out of 1x6. Paiant inside
white for best surface reflection (actually white is better than
mirrow is, unless you use a proper reflector, go with white paint.

You can buy a Power compact flourescent electronic ballast on line
(about $20) complete with socket that wil fire a 24 to 65 watt PC
bulb which is available in all kinds of color (kelvin temps) which is
more suitable and better than the typical tube type flourescent
lights, unless your going with T5 type.....which would be way overkill
for FW setups anyhow.......You can also buy a decent ballast at Home
Depot complete with wiring diagram for under $5 that will power up a
65 watt PC bulb. Around here we can get 34-65 watt PC bulbs of varous
kelvin for 10 to 16 bucks.......much better than any shop light or so
called plant growing bulbs .......I use 6700 to 7200 and on occassion
10K PC lights and all my plants do great.......I do not have any
lights over glass, or egg crate. I use home brew hoods I make out of
acrylic plastic, but like I said, wood is fine if its sealed....and
painted white inside for reflection unless a proper reflector is
used......

That makes a lot of sense. Unfortunatley, I would probably use the
All-Glass Twin-Tube light strip before I did all that. My time is
limited. I work full time and go to school full time besides being a
father of three. ; )

Thanks. That is good information.

On Mar 13, 2:09�pm, cailinsdad wrote:
On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 12:18:41 -0600, ~Roy~
wrote:







Do what you want, but you loose a large percentage of light when you
hang it over a tank....more than what you really t hink yu do. I
played around with a PAR and a LUX meter, and its unreal how much
light you loose. Its also unreal how much light you loose when it is
placed above a piece of glass as well.....Lots of folks use what is
called egg crate (a white or black plastic grill used in suspended
ceilings to create a diffuser for the lights, and believe it or not,
you loose 46% + of useable light just passing through this egg crate
grill and you can loose more if the grill is placed improper side
up...Its also unreal how much light is actually spilling out the sides
but it appears to look like its going down through the tank and out
the sides, when in fact it is not even entering the tank, its all
outside the tank.

There is only one way to do it an dthat is make a totally enclosed
hood. Wood is fine, and can easily be made out of 1x6. Paiant inside
white for best surface reflection (actually white is better than
mirrow is, unless you use a proper reflector, go with white paint.

You can buy a Power compact flourescent electronic ballast on line
(about $20) *complete with socket that wil fire a 24 to 65 watt PC
bulb which is available in all kinds of color (kelvin temps) which is
more suitable and better than the typical tube type flourescent
lights, unless your going with T5 type.....which would be way overkill
for FW setups anyhow.......You can also buy a decent ballast at Home
Depot complete with wiring diagram for under $5 that will power up a
65 watt PC bulb. Around here we can get 34-65 watt PC bulbs of varous
kelvin for 10 to 16 bucks.......much better than any shop light or so
called plant growing bulbs .......I use 6700 to 7200 and on occassion
10K PC lights and all my plants do great.......I do not have any
lights over glass, or egg crate. I use home brew hoods I make out of
acrylic plastic, but like I said, wood is fine if its sealed....and
painted white inside for reflection unless a proper reflector is
used......

That makes a lot of sense. *Unfortunatley, I would probably use the
All-Glass Twin-Tube light strip before I did all that. *My time is
limited. *I work full time and go to school full time besides being a
father of three. *; )

Thanks. That is good information.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Are you talking about your 55g tank?
I have the 48" All-Glass twin tube on my 75g.
Roy is right about losing light when you hang it above the tank.
I actually prefer one of the more expensive bulbs made by Coralife -
called ColorMax. I have to get them ordered at one of the shops a
couple towns away. If I don't do it that way, the shop right in town
has them, just $7 more EACH! When you need two, and I like to replace
both at the same time, it makes it worth it to have them ordered.
I just don't get the color I like in my Bettas (I have many females
in the 75g along with a resident male), as I do with this particular
bulb.
I've tried a few other full spectrum bulbs but the reds and blues just
don't POP. They're more of an average color.
Sometimes it's worth the extra cost of a more expensive bulb when you
have fish that have bright colors in them.

Hi,

Suspending the lighting will reduce the intensity significantly
(Intensity reduces by the inverse square of the distance which means
very quickly).

Other considerations are safety around water with fittings not
designed for that purpose. As many tubes as you want to afford to run
is best. Consider specialised spectrums. There is some discussion at
the links below.

Regards,

Suzi



http://www.keepingfish.com/pageMain....6a733f502 4ea
http://www.keepingfish.com/pageMain....505d878ae 34d

On Mar 13, 6:16 am, cailinsdad wrote:
I need to replace the light on my 29 gallon and I was considering
saving money by using a shop light.

My question, is it reasonable to hang the light a few inches above a
glass top or is it necessary for the light to rest right on the glass?

I was planning to use a 24 in light.

TIA,

Dan