# Additional Lighting...



## achase (Oct 18, 2010)

Hello, 

So I recently bought a Aqueon 36 gallon Bowlfront tank and hood. 
The hood came with a T8, 24inch, 17 watt bulb (although the hood says it can go up to 20 watts). Which means currently I have .47wpg, which really limits what plants I can successful grow. In my other two tanks I keep low light plants but for this tank I would like to get a wider variety of plants. So I was wondering if anyone new of any lighting products that are hang on or suction cupped (submersible) that I could add to my aquarium set up to increase the wpg. I don't want to overload my hood just because of safety concerns. 

At petsmart they sell Marina Micro LED Lights which are suction cupped, submersible lights that produce about 7 watts. If I purchased 6 of these lights and upgraded the 17 watt bulb that came with the hood to a 20 watt bulb, I would be able to raise my wpg to 1.55. Thoughts? Anyone had these lights before?


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

????? Not sure how you are going to change the bulb on those Micro LED light. You would have to change the transformer as well.

I would say sell the T8 and replace it with 2xT5HO Current USA or Hagen Glo.


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## achase (Oct 18, 2010)

I wouldn't be changing the bulbs on the Mirco LED lights just upgrading the 17 watt bulb that came with the hood to a 20 watt bulb (probably a Hagen Bulb). Is that what you were referring to? Now that I reread what I wrote I can understand how that came across wrong.


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

suction cupped lights and smaller led lights usually aren't recommended for tanks. You need a bulb with a decent K rating, and with some good wattage. People are favoring T5's nowadays. T5s can go to a very high wattage, and are extremely bright, with a very low heat. Because the bulb, and the fixture is so small (no ballast) you can rig an attachment very easily. 

I don't know how long you have been in the hobby, but just light will not grow your plants. You need a balance of Ferts, Co2, and light. Likely, if you want to broaden your plant horizon, I would recommend you doing some basic research. People around here are helpful, but they don't want to retype lots of other things that are written  Anything else can be answered by our plant experts.


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## achase (Oct 18, 2010)

I have some experience with planted aquariums but nothing complex....never had a Co2 system or kept any plants successfully other than java ferns, anubias and vallisneria. 

From my understanding you do not need Co2 to have a relatively successful planted aquarium if your wpg gallon are under 2 wpg. It was suggested to me that I shouldn't deal with Co2 until I increase my wpg otherwise I will be dealing with algae problems. I do use excel with my current plant setups and have an ecocomplete substrate. 

I guess my reasoning for looking at smaller LED lights is because I'm not very good with DIY projects, especially ones concerning electricity and water....  

My only interest in upgrading my lighting so that I can have some different low light plants that aren't java ferns or anubias. Which I have had great success with in my other tanks which have a pretty low wpg.


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