# Lighting For 20 Gal Tall



## JeFFLo (Aug 29, 2003)

trying to get my 20 gal planted. not sure what type of light i should use. thinkin of 1x24 t5 ho fixture which would put me at 1.2 wpg. would this be fine to run most low-tech plants without cO2? also what type of bulb should i run?


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## klink67 (Feb 14, 2010)

This is your best and cheapest option. I own there 150 watt mh unit and it is high quality for the price. I also just ordered this fixture for my Biocube 29. T-5 is the future of aquarium lighting. I was going to get a single PC bulb but the fixture cost more than the t5! I would go with this.
best fixture

Since you tank is deep this will be enough to penetrate to the bottom of your tank. It even comes with moonlights.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

klink67 said:


> This is your best and cheapest option. I own there 150 watt mh unit and it is high quality for the price. I also just ordered this fixture for my Biocube 29. T-5 is the future of aquarium lighting. I was going to get a single PC bulb but the fixture cost more than the t5! I would go with this.
> best fixture
> 
> Since you tank is deep this will be enough to penetrate to the bottom of your tank. It even comes with moonlights.


I wouldn't use anything made my odessea. Mayby if I could only chose them or Jebo but if not i'd get a better light. The one in your link also has bulbs ment for marine tanks and the bulbs it uses (18W) don't come in many options. A 4 bulb t5 is asking for algae problems without co2.

For a simple setup you could do something cheap like a double tube t8. You cant keep any plant but you will still be able to do a fully planted tank just use low light plants like crypts, annubias, moss, ferns... A double bulb t5 would work too.


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## klink67 (Feb 14, 2010)

The fixture has switches on it that alows you to turn off the actinics. Besides I asked them to include all daylight bulbs. Also there are good bulb choices in the 18 watt. 
LINK!!!!

This is perfect for planted tanks. Also you cant beat the price.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

A nice read about odessea

If you want a 4 bulb fixture go with somethign like this:

Link

^they may function but they are still junk

With that said if you go a 4 bulb t5 you will probably want co2, excell or something. For the low light setup you want go with some dual bulb t8 or t5

You could also go with a coralife t5. 
2 bulb t5

It all depends on what type of plants you want and your light budget. If you only want low light plants and a cheap light. Your cheapest option (non diy) will probably be a standard florectny t8 wich will be fine for lowerlight plants.

I suggest something like this for a low tech tank

Also your link with the bulbs were not even the correct bulbs. Half of them were 12", the wrong wattage of the wrong spectrum of bulb.


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## JeFFLo (Aug 29, 2003)

Thanks guys for the useful info. I think im gonna go with the dual T5. Not looking to add too much plants in a 20 gal. Just need enough so the tank wouldnt look so bare. Are they any special bulbs to use? or are the included lights are ok?


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## klink67 (Feb 14, 2010)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> A nice read about odessea
> 
> If you want a 4 bulb fixture go with somethign like this:
> 
> ...


No those bulbs were the correct replacement bulbs. Current usa also makes 18 in bulbs. I have read reviews about this fixture on reef forums and personally own there mh pendant and I checked the wiring. It is comparable to a sunpod but is 1/3 the price. This is a really nice fixture for the price because it allows you to use one bulb for low tech and you could just keep increasing the light depending on what you wanted to keep.

These fixture use to be junk but in the past two years they have upgraded there products. Do you own any odyssea lights?


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

JeFFLo said:


> Thanks guys for the useful info. I think im gonna go with the dual T5. Not looking to add too much plants in a 20 gal. Just need enough so the tank wouldnt look so bare. Are they any special bulbs to use? or are the included lights are ok?


 What are the included lights? Somethign like a 6700K or 1000K should be fine. Id see what your options are. As long as the fixture is ment for a fw tank (some fixtures have a fw and sw version with the only difference being the bulbs so as long as you get the fw version you will be fine) the bulbs should be fine.


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## klink67 (Feb 14, 2010)

Odyssea step up their quality for a good while now. I just purchased a 48" fixture 2 months ago and have not had any problems and it doesn't get hot as everyone is claiming. My friend bought the 72" fixture a year ago and its running fine. I know most of the people who comment on these fixtures are doing so with second hand information and not actual experience. The few who had bad experiences it was just that but everytime someone brings up this brand the same stories get told. If their fixtures were truly that bad there is no way that they would be able to stay on the market!

This was in that link you posted about odyssea


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

klink67 said:


> Odyssea step up their quality for a good while now. I just purchased a 48" fixture 2 months ago and have not had any problems and it doesn't get hot as everyone is claiming. My friend bought the 72" fixture a year ago and its running fine. I know most of the people who comment on these fixtures are doing so with second hand information and not actual experience. The few who had bad experiences it was just that but everytime someone brings up this brand the same stories get told. If their fixtures were truly that bad there is no way that they would be able to stay on the market!
> 
> This was in that link you posted about odyssea


The ones who just get their fixtures are generally happy as they got a fixture for cheap. Its when it breaks that they dislike. Im not saying every single fixture will break but im saying is overall compared to other fixtures odessea is of a lower quality.

Do what you like but I will stick to my higher quality fixtures.


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## klink67 (Feb 14, 2010)

They use to be lower quality. I have owned current t5 fixtures, pc fixtures and a coralife aqualight pro MH. All of them were comparable in quality to the new odyssea fixtures. Actually the current and coralfe fixture would get really hot compared to my pendant. I have seen the odyssea fixtures on fire but the major issue with there old fixtures was they used magnetic ballasts. These would overheat and not drive the bulbs to there full potential.

The 30 watt bulbs work fine in the odyssea fixture. Part of the reason UVL lighting designed them is so they could fit in the nova extreme pro and the odyssea fixture.

I am just stating that when I did a comparison I found the external ballast on my odyssea ran a lot cooler and even had a built in fan to cool it down. The coralife aqualight didnt have a fan built in there ballast so it got really hot. In order to judge a companies products you need to have owned or have first hand experience with the product in question. If you owned a recent odyssea fixture then you can say that it is bad quality however you didnt.

Anyways for $50 shipped there is no way anybody can go wrong.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

50$ is pretty good but i'd rather have peace of mind. Lastly would you use a 100W lightbulb in a socket that says 60W max? Im just saying that fixture is ment for bulbs with lower wattges. It may be able to handle higher watteges but it may not if it's built for a bulb that has half the wattege (though im not even sure that the bulbs are 30W as there is no description available and just 030W in the title which I would guess is the wattage).

Either way OP best of luck with whatever fixture you chose.


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## klink67 (Feb 14, 2010)

LINK

Here is thread were he tested it out by putting th uvl 30 watt bulbs in there. Flourescents are different from incandescents. If you put a higher wattage bulb in to the socket the flourescent ballast will adjust to it. If you screw in a normal light into a socket that its not rated for the bulb could blow up.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

klink67 said:


> LINK
> 
> Here is thread were he tested it out by putting th uvl 30 watt bulbs in there. Flourescents are different from incandescents. If you put a higher wattage bulb in to the socket the flourescent ballast will adjust to it. If you screw in a normal light into a socket that its not rated for the bulb could blow up.


I don't see where he says there are 30W bulbs in there. He did state on the draw on the ballast was 30W for 2 bulbs.

is not nessisarily a problem with a ballast that is why you shouldn't use too large of bubls but it's the things like endcaps and wiriging that may not be built to be used with more powerful bulbs. Even the LED guru himself said whatever bulbs he used had decent par but the ballest and the internal components of the fixture where not the best of quality.

Either way Im done here as we have taken over this threand enough. If you wish to continue please pm me.


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