burrito Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 i am going to try my hand at a 2.5 after a years success at my nanocube (the original one) my question is what can i use to light my 2.5aga? i've seen people use bookworm lights? is that good and what cite or where can i find them? i just went to a lowes and the guy said to go to waldenbook cuz they are a clip on... obviously my explanation didnt register to him. i've also heard about screw-ins from coralife? can someone point me to the right direction to find info on them? any other sugestions? most likely i will make a canopy and base for this project to make it look purty:) Link to comment
Spongle Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 bigalsonline has the coralife 50/50 in 10w & 20w for a good price. I have one of each over my 2.5. Others use the 13w retro. Do a search for both and you will find lots of useful info and ways to set them up. After reading the various threads, I decided on the setup I liked the best. Link to comment
MinibowMatt Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 I used a 9W PC i had laying around. I would probly do the same set up as you see here, but with a 13W. The screw ins are nice too- look in my gallery for pics of my screw in refugium light. Link to comment
Taikimoto Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 Heres my DIY 2.5 light canopy: More pics and info can be found here: The Reef Projects Link to comment
burrito Posted February 12, 2005 Author Share Posted February 12, 2005 is doing al that wiring for the lights difficult Link to comment
Taikimoto Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 as long as your electrically inclined and can follow a diagram, the only thing it costs is time. it was very time consuming. Link to comment
MinibowMatt Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 I agrre. its easy if you can follow a diagram and have a little electrical skill. Link to comment
burrito Posted February 13, 2005 Author Share Posted February 13, 2005 how good are the coralife screw in bulbs? im thinking of going with 2 or 3 10 watts bulbs in a hood? also would i need some kinda acrlyic or glass to act as a sheild from the water or can i just make sure its very secure and leave it about 5 inches above the water Link to comment
Spongle Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 I like the 50/50. Cheap bulbs and cheap DIY lighting. I have the 20w mounted toward the front of the canopy and the 10w toward the back. I would "highly" recommend using a glass or acrlyic cover. Link to comment
MinibowMatt Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 use a piece of acrylic or plexi. you dont want to fry your reef. for the 10$ they cost, there =worth it. they come in all the right spectrums too-except (Ithink) actinic. I know they have 6700K, 10K, and 50/50. you dont need any special wiring stuff either, just a screw in base from HD and a little switch. Link to comment
burrito Posted February 13, 2005 Author Share Posted February 13, 2005 so i have to bulbs i can accomdate over my 2.5g should i go with 20, 30, or 40 total watts all 50/50 they dont make the screw ins in just atinic GRRR!! would 40w be too much, im aiming at softies, shrooms, zoos, lps Link to comment
samthebigfish Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 i have the coralife mini aqua light it is 2 bulbs, power compact, it was 35bucks and it was plug and play. 9'', it has 2-18watt bulbs. one is true actinic and the other is 10,000k. it works great for me. Link to comment
burrito Posted February 16, 2005 Author Share Posted February 16, 2005 well i bought 2 screw in fixtures now i need to know a good combo of wattage, i can go with 2 10watt bulbs, 2 20 watt bulbs or 1 of each for 30 total watts, would 40 b4 overkill or the more watts better? price difference is just a few dollars overall for either combo Link to comment
Spongle Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 I have 30w and I personally wouldn't go with anymore or anyless. But thats just my opinion. Link to comment
waterdog1 Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 FYI the coralife aqualight has two 9w bulbs for a TOTAL of 18w. Not two 18w bulbs as stated by samthebigfish. Link to comment
Rmcm2424 Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 I have the 9 in. Coralife fixture over my 2.5 and love it. http://www.aquariumconnection.com/getDetai...l.php?ID=183033 The 12" fixture will also work, http://www.aquariumconnection.com/getDetai...l.php?ID=183511 , and it has double the light...I decided to go with the smaller one b/c all I'm really growing are some mushroom frags from my 29 and some other lower light corals. Link to comment
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