Appropriate lighting for a 20 gallon long

[LLeopardGGecko]

I'm going to be purchasing a 20 gallon long tank tomorrow to handle all the new CPs I'll be getting this year (curse this addiction) and I'm wondering what I should use to light the thing.

I use mostly compact flourescents for all my other tanks and they work really well, but I'm thinking that compacts aren't the way to go for the 20 gallon long. Should I go with some tubes? I was looking at the tube fixtures at Home Depot today and I couldn't really make out which one would fit nicely on top of a 20 gallon long. Anyone have any advice?

Also, the price of the 20 gallon long was about 38 dollars at Petco. Is this a good price?

 

[dewy]

You might want to try this. It produces plenty of light,and is relatively inexpensive.
Grow Hood
http://ahsupply.com/96watt.htm

You can lay the 20G terrarium over on its side and lay the light on top. This allows for even more plants in the terrarium while also reducing the distance between the plants and the light. Hope this helps. If you have any other questions,feel free to ask them.
dewy

EDIT 1- Each bulb puts out about 10,000 lumens,resulting in excellent coloration in your cp.

 

[chloroplast]

My 20gal is 30"L x 12"W, so I use two 2'-long fluorescent tube fixtures for a total of 80W lighting (4 20W bulbs).

Hope this new terrarium ends up looking as great as your others!

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Thanks for all the help guys.

Hey Chloroplast, would you mind posting a picture of your tank and lights? Did you get your lights at Home Depot? How well do they fit over the top of your tank? Did you have to wire the power plug?

Why do I ask so many questions in a row?

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Here's an update on my situation:

I picked up a 20 gallon long tank at Petsmart today for $25, which isn't a bad deal.  I also picked up a 48'' flourescent tube light fixture at Home Depot for $30 (it holds two tubes and it's all pre-wired so I don't have to attach a power cord - I'm horrible with that stuff and am willing to pay a little more if I don't have to wire anything) and two cool white 40 watt tubes for $5. I'm hoping this will be sufficient for my new plants, seeing as I've never really used tubes for lighting before (I mostly use compacts).

I'll try to post a picture soon so you guys can see how it's set up.

 

[dewy]

Quote[/b] (LLeopardGGecko @ Jan. 01 2006,11:28)]Here's an update on my situation:

I picked up a 20 gallon long tank at Petsmart today for $25, which isn't a bad deal.  I also picked up a 48'' flourescent tube light fixture at Home Depot for $30 (it holds two tubes and it's all pre-wired so I don't have to attach a power cord - I'm horrible with that stuff and am willing to pay a little more if I don't have to wire anything) and two cool white 40 watt tubes for $5. I'm hoping this will be sufficient for my new plants, seeing as I've never really used tubes for lighting before (I mostly use compacts).

I'll try to post a picture soon so you guys can see how it's set up.

I would get at least a second fixture. Normal fluorescent tubes have alot harder time pushing the light down to the plants than CFLs do. Fluorescent tubes generally need to be within 3 inches of plants for good coloration and growth.
dewy

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Really? That'll be 80 watts of light, which is how much I have on another one of my terrariums, just in compact flourescents instead of tubes.

Also, I think Chloroplast has 80 watts of light on his terrariums and his plants are sweet

EDIT: In "The Savage Garden" Peter recommends that for 20 gallon tanks, two 40 watt tubes should be used. Just food for thought...

 

[Gawd_oOo]

Quote[/b] (dewy @ Jan. 01 2006,10:33)]I would get at least a second fixture. Normal fluorescent tubes have alot harder time pushing the light down to the plants than CFLs do. Fluorescent tubes generally need to be within 3 inches of plants for good coloration and growth.
dewy

Wow, I don't know about that, my lights are 1 foot away from my plants. (EDIT: I measured It was 13", changed previous statement from 2') Of course I have 6 40w tubes, but I am also lighting a 4'x4' area. My plant colored up within 4 days of having the lights, and keep getting deeper and deeper since then.

Before: (the plant below my fingers)
Before Picture

After:
After Picture

I think you are fine with the 2 tube fixture.

You could try 2 different color temp bulbs, but this seems to get as much debate as soil mix...

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Quote[/b] ]You could try 2 different color temp bulbs, but this seems to get as much debate as soil mix...

I thought about that, but decided to go with all cool white at the last minute. I'll see how my plants do with these bulbs, and then maybe I can change one to a daylight bulb or something.

 

[Gawd_oOo]

I'll be building a shelving unit, and might do some experiments myself once that is done.

PinguiculaMan's pictures inspired me, to gain some more growing room.

6' tall, 4' long, 2' wide. That will give me 3 shelves (2'x4'), that I could fit 3 double fixtures over each, but am going to start with 2 over each.

I got all the wood, lights, but my old man stole my circular saw.. A buddy is bringing a saw out with him tomorrow. You can all bet you'll see some pictures when it's done.

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Good luck with all that Gawd! Seems like a really cool idea

 

[chloroplast]

Quote[/b] ]Hey Chloroplast, would you mind posting a picture of your tank and lights? Did you get your lights at Home Depot? How well do they fit over the top of your tank? Did you have to wire the power plug?

Pics: Sure--I got a digital cam for Christmas and will snap a picture tonite. The trick will be to find an online site to upload it, so that it can then be posted. Any suggestions?

Lights: Yes, I got the bulbs and fixtures at home depot. Two 2' long fixtures fit perfectly over the tank, with ~2" perimeter space between the edges of the fixtures and the edges of the tank. I had to wire the plug for the 2' fixtures, but not for the 4' fixtures for my growracks (which came with a plug).

I just read your more recent posts:

Quote[/b] ]I picked up a 20 gallon long tank at Petsmart today for $25, which isn't a bad deal. I also picked up a 48'' flourescent tube light fixture at Home Depot for $30 (it holds two tubes and it's all pre-wired so I don't have to attach a power cord - I'm horrible with that stuff and am willing to pay a little more if I don't have to wire anything) and two cool white 40 watt tubes for $5.

How will you fit the 4' long fixture on the 20gal tank--that is, what will you do with the unused portions of the bulbs? Also, you might want to go back to HD and look for cheaper 4' fixtures. They usually have four or five different brands, and one of them sells for $8-10!....I just bought two 4' long fixtures TODAY from home depot for $7.98/each (with plugs). My HD is also having a sale on Philips cool white bulbs--$3.99 for two bulbs. You might want to check to see if your HD is doing the same.

80W should be fine for almost all CPs in the tank so long as they're within 5-6" of the lights. However, it probably won't be enough to keep the color on highly-colored varieties of VFTs.

 

[dewy]

Quote[/b] (LLeopardGGecko @ Jan. 01 2006,11:40)]Really? That'll be 80 watts of light, which is how much I have on another one of my terrariums, just in compact flourescents instead of tubes.

Also, I think Chloroplast has 80 watts of light on his terrariums and his plants are sweet

EDIT: In "The Savage Garden" Peter recommends that for 20 gallon tanks, two 40 watt tubes should be used. Just food for thought...

If it is 80 watts in CFL's,it will be fine. Most  20W fluorescent cool white tubes for 2' fixtures produce about 1100 lumens each. If chloroplast has 2 fixtures that each hold 2 bulbs,he is probably getting around 4400 lumens total. The difference between CFL's and fluorescents is the following: CFL's produce more of a focused light meaning that your plants can be farther away from the lights and get good coloration . Fluorescent tubes produce more of a diffused light, which means that your plants need to be a lot closer to get the same good coloration. The more fluorescent tubes you use, the farther away your plant can be from the lights.

Gawd oOo- Sice you use 4 foot long fluorescent fixtures and you use 6 40W tubes, this explains why your plant grow fine 13 inches away from the lights. Four foot fluorescent tubes seem to have more lumens,usually around 2500 lumens in my experience. Since you use 6 40W tubes to light your grow area, they are probably producing around 15,000 lumens, which is more than enough to light a 4'x4' area.

Just thought I would add some insight from my past experiences of growing plants under artificial light for around 7 years.
dewy

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Quote[/b] ]I just bought two 4' long fixtures TODAY from home depot for $7.98/each (with plugs).

Oh really...Would you mind posting pictures of these too (also the boxes if you can)? I want to know if these will fit nicely over my 20 gallon long. If that's the case, I'll just take back the $30 one and get the cheaper one.

By the way Chloroplast, you can use Photobucket.com for your picture hosting. It works great  

 

[dewy]

Quote[/b] (LLeopardGGecko @ Jan. 02 2006,2:45)]

Quote[/b] ]I just bought two 4' long fixtures TODAY from home depot for $7.98/each (with plugs).

Oh really...Would you mind posting pictures of these too? I want to know if these will fit nicely over my 20 gallon long. If that's the case, I'll just take back the $30 one and get the cheaper one.

LLeopardGGecko,just curious, how are you going to fit a 48 inch long light fixture over a 30 inch long aquarium?

 

[Gawd_oOo]

LLGG, all my fixtures, were $8 each as well, from walmart.

Quote[/b] ]Gawd oOo- Sice you use 4 foot long fluorescent fixtures and you use 6 40W tubes, this explains why your plant grow fine 13 inches away from the lights. Four foot fluorescent tubes seem to have more lumens,usually around 2500 lumens in my experience. Since you use 6 40W tubes to light your grow area, they are probably producing around 15,000 lumens, which is more than enough to light a 4'x4' area.

Thats the same size bulbs LLGG bought.

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Quote[/b] ]LLeopardGGecko,just curious, how are you going to fit a 48 inch long light fixture over a 30 inch long aquarium?

It just sits nicely on top, and has about a half foot overhang on each side.

Quote[/b] ]LLGG, all my fixtures, were $8 each as well, from walmart.

Walmart sells light strips? What size are they? How many bulbs do they hold?

 

[Gawd_oOo]

They are the ones I refered to in my previous posts.

48" 2 bulb fixtures, at my walmart they are on a shelf directly below the bulbs they sell. And they are T12 or T8.

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Interesting, I don't think I've ever seen those at my Wal-Mart. Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough!

 

[chloroplast]

Mitch, THANK YOU for telling me about photobucket!!!!  So....you asked for it, now you've got it.   

a1&2) a partial shot of my 20 gal terrarium (3/4 of it). Sorry, but it's late and I noticed it wasn't complete till after I downloaded the pics. I think you get the idea though.
b1&2) my two brocchinia and various tillandsias and other plants
c) a tray of pings and dews (some flowering)
d) and one of my 3 growracks (the 4' long one).

Pics aren't the best quality but I just got the digital cam and software so I'm still learning.... There are so many of my CPs that I haven't taken pictures of yet....my trays of neps & helis, my trays of utrics, and my other trays of pings, dews, etc. The roridula, ceph, and blah, blah, blah.... Not to mention all the seedlings and seed trays!!! I'm in a picture taking frenzy! I love my digital cam!!!  I could take pics all nite...but alas, I have to work tomorrow.

As for the 20 gal, there's a heliamphora heterodoxa x minor. To its left is a nice N.ampullaria (has a nice basal shoot with tons of pitchers but can't be seen).  There's some other neps, a few species of selaginella, some orchids, a couple of sarrs, and ant plants (myrmecodium and dischidia pectinoides).  AND of course, the wonderful sphagnum moss carpeting the bottom of the tank and growing up the sides.

More pics (of better quality) will be posted in the future.  I'm thinking of taking a pic of all my plants (and their flowers) and making my own database with pictures.  Already have an excel spreadsheet database of seed, seedlings and plant names, but pics to go along with them would be great.

Hope you enjoyed!
a1.

a2.

b1.

b2.

c.

d.