Need lighting Ideas For a Tall 15g

[SeaMountain]

Okay... I have a nice little 15g tank sitting in my office and I'm again considering swapping it to a nano. Dimensions of the tank are 13"x13"x26". The hood is a snug fitting low-profile which looks really sweet, and I don't want to build a tall hood either. It would detract from the original reason I got the tank.

 

13w PC CSL Retros are one option. But even using 3 of them would still only give me about 2.5 wats per gallon.

 

A MH is supposed to be a number of inches above the tank and there is no room for a fan. But the rear of the hood has an opening of about an inch all across the back to accomodate HOB's etc.

 

Does anyone know of stronger lighting that could be placed inside a 13x13 area? Here's an image of the tank... Thanks

[lizbeth]

How are you at DYI my good man?

 

Lights Of America (HomeDepot) makes a 27 watt 6500K bulb for one of their yardlights. The bulb is like a mini powerquad about 5"x6"ish. You can buy the replacement bulb for 8 bucks. Add two 13 (or more) watt actinics and you are up to 3.5 plus wpg. If you can cram 4x13 in you are at 5.2 wpg.

 

You will need to drill a hole or two for some CPU fans or the tank is going to cook.

[adinsxq]

28w/32w bulbs are just under 13".... i think.

 

if adding an endcap makes it too long, do an old-school-ultra-ghetto-back-in-the-day solder-to-pin job. yip!

[lizbeth]

Adin you are right! At Hellolights site they are 12 11/16". 3x28=5.6wpg.

[OxInYourBox]

Nice tank. I just saw one last night and was tempted to get it but I had the same dilemma you have now. After using the pythagorean theorem you would have room diagonally around 18.4 inches max which could (I can't remember the length) hold a 36 watt and possibly 2 bulbs (32 watt and below). If not you should be able to get away with a 32 watt and 2 (possibly more) 13's on either side of it. I'd get some measurements as well as add some space (1/2 inch I think) to accomodate for the end caps.