What kind of light for a 2.5g?

[coral_reefer_25]

I'm thinking of putting either a 2.5g or 5g tank at my office. It will hold softies only. What kind of light do you guys suggest that is decent quality and cost effective? A DIY setup is always an option, but I want something simple.

Coralife has a 50/50 "Mini Compact Florescent" that fits into a regular lamp socket. They have a 10W and a 20W version. I was thinking about using one of those.

What do you think?

 

[Fanof49ASU]

I've got a 10w Coralife on a 2.5 gallon, and it's ok. I've got some zoo's pretty close to the top (directly under the light) and they seem happy. But it's not enough light to illuminate the entire tank.
I'd like to try the 20w version....though, the fixture is only rated at 15w max. I'm not too sure how rigid these warnings are.

The 2.5 gallon is 12" long, 6" deep and 8" tall.

 

[DMBillies]

Ryan,

I bought a couple of 10W to go over a 10 gallon QT because I already had one of the old school screw in lighting fixtures. I wasn't very impressed with the amount of light they put out. That said, if they were 20's and/or were over top of a 2.5 they'd probably put of a decent amount of light. They don't have any kind of built in reflector, so making one would definitely up the output.

When setting up her 2.5, Moriah asked Ebay what they used and they have a 2x9W coralife PC fixture over their 2.5. Apparently their light is the only source of heat and they don't need to cool it. The tank seems to do pretty well.

Because I took lessons from Tim Taylor I thought Moriah needed more power, so I recommended she go with a 2x18watt coralife fixture. It definitely provides PLENTY of light so that she can definitely keep any softies or SPS that she wants, but there were a couple of issues with going bigger. The fixture is wider than the tank (but the opening where the bulbs are is not), so we needed to find a way to get the light mounted over the tank. The fixture also puts off quite a bit of heat, so we needed to buy a little computer fan and mount it in the "hood" that we built. This upped the evaporation, but also probably helped a little getting oxygen exchanged at the surface (a potential problem because you can't really have any kind of surface skimmer on something that small). I would eventually like to build a stand so that it balances out the look (it's a small tank, so even a small "hood" looks big) and so that I can put a hinge on the hood (right now you have to lift the hood off everytime you want to get into the tank). Moriah said she'll post pictures of her tank later on to give you an idea of what she has going.

 

[Angela Short]

I took some clip on lights from home depo and took screw in part off and straped it on with plumbing strapping and used 3 of those with 20 watt screw ins (50/50) and have pretty good light over my 5. I even have happy digi growing up the back wall.. The heat is a issue since I added the 3rd bulb though...
I would go with a 5 since SG may fluctuate while on vacation or over the long weekends.

 

[coral_reefer_25]

Angela,

Do you think a couple of 20W would do okay over a 5g? Like I said, I'm only wanting to keep softies in it.

 

[mamagoose45]

As Brian mentioned, I'll try to take some pictures this evening of the tank, hood, fixture and whatnot to give you an idea as to what my 2.5 set up is. Hopefully it will help you a little bit at least.

One thing I did find out when trying to buy fixtures for the 2.5 nano is that none of the fixtures really fit the dimensions of the tank. A lot of the lights will sit directly on the glass top, but I couldn't find a single one that would work with legs or stands on the 2.5. So if you go that route, expect some frustration or get ready to design a solution. I'd be more than happy to try and explain how we did the one we built if you like the way it looks, etc. I think over all it probably cost us about $12-15 and only took one night and few advil to build...

 

[coral_reefer_25]

I think I'll end up going with a 5g. For some reason, I was thinking Angela had a 2.5, so knowing that it's actually a 5g has persuaded me to go that route, since I know that the lights will fit over the tank with no problem.

 

[gflat65]

I just scanned the replies, but I use the screw in PC's like Angela mentioned. I get (2)-20W 50/50's and keep zoas, softies (leathers and mushrooms), and an Acan echinata. I have the same lighting over my 10 (upgraded the 5.5 to a 10).

 

[Angela Short]

Yea 2 20 watts is what I had for a long time and the digi and canycane was fine under that and grew a bunch. The 3rd light almost added to much heat in the summer and I would have to put a fan on it. Those screw in 50/50's will not fit in a standard plastic hood though, at least they didn't in mine. They were to fat (the bulb part) for the space allowed.

I have also read they don't last that long and actually I have had 2 burn out in 2 years at about $18 each. So those little 18 watt fixtures may be cheapper and better since they have a reflector in the long run. And you may be able to do a seperate daylight bulb and actinic to get dawn and dusk going on. In hindsite I would look into trying to get a tiny retro or fixture if it was me.

 

[coral_reefer_25]

So, you think a 2 x 9W PC retro kit would do better than a couple of those 20W screw-in types? That's half the wattage...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8568617#post8568617 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Angela Short
Yea 2 20 watts is what I had for a long time and the digi and canycane was fine under that and grew a bunch. The 3rd light almost added to much heat in the summer and I would have to put a fan on it. Those screw in 50/50's will not fit in a standard plastic hood though, at least they didn't in mine. They were to fat (the bulb part) for the space allowed.

I have also read they don't last that long and actually I have had 2 burn out in 2 years at about $18 each. So those little 18 watt fixtures may be cheapper and better since they have a reflector in the long run. And you may be able to do a seperate daylight bulb and actinic to get dawn and dusk going on. In hindsite I would look into trying to get a tiny retro or fixture if it was me.

 

[SRT80]

ive got a 5 gal. flat back hex from walmart I use to keep a betta in. The 10 watt 50/50 fits in that hood, i think the 20 watt was too long

 

[Angela Short]

Oh I was thinking about a 2.5 for some reason I would reaserch into nano retro if you have a hood. I just have had 2 of the screw ins burn out for no reason and they do not have a reflector. So $20 rouphly for the bulb and another $6ish for a flood light thing to screw it in if you do 2 of those set ups you will have almost $50 in it. Just see what is out there first is all I would suggest.

 

[coral_reefer_25]

Yeah, I think I'll go with a 5 for the SG reason, as well as making it easier to fit a retro kit into. I guess I'll just do a 2 x 13W PC retro kit from A.H. Supply. I used to have that setup on a 6g Eclipse. I was just hoping for something easier with the screw-in type.

Gary, how many bulbs have you gone through?

 

[Mikeyjer]

I just recently bought those hang on shop light with reflector at Lowe's It cost around $10/ea. It can handle 150w and I used 10w 6500k pcs screw ins for my fuge and it's working great!

 

[coral_reefer_25]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8573781#post8573781 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mikeyjer
I just recently bought those hang on shop light with reflector at Lowe's It cost around $10/ea. It can handle 150w and I used 10w 6500k pcs screw ins for my fuge and it's working great!

Yeah, I need to get one of those and make a small 'fuge in my sump. As for the 2.5 (or 5g), I want to keep this looking very clean since it will be at my office.

 

[gflat65]

Ryan,

I replace all PC and VHO bulbs at the six month mark. I had someone argue with me that PC's are good for years and never lose intensity or have color shifts. He didn't, of course, have a viable argument. I may change earlier than required on some (9 months on SE MH, and 12 months on DE MH), but it figure it's better to be ahead of the curve than behind...

 

[coral_reefer_25]

I decided to go with the 5g tank. I bought one of those Coralife 18W PC fixtures, and I'm very disappointed in it. It's no where near enough light for a 5g...and I'm sure it would be perfect for a 2.5.

Today I ordered 3 of those 20W Coralife screw-in Mini PCs.

Do you guys think the 18W fixture would work okay if I wanted to make a small 'fuge in my sump?