Spot lighting for for water portion

[froggsong]

Hey guys, I have a question for some of you folks that are more knowledgable on lighting than I.

My big palu (has the japaluras inside now) seems to have good lighting as far as my terrestrials go, but I want to be able to plant some plants in the water. The lighting I have now penertarates to the water better than what I had before (changed the color temp just a bit), but I need to go through 26" of air before light even gets to the water.

What kid of spot light can I get that won't produce too much heat, will penetrate to that level, fits in a standard socket, doesn't cost an arm and a leg (I need all of mine, thank you), and is easy to find locally (HD, ACE, Lowe's Wally World, etc)?

I think a halogen is pretty much OTQ, as it will raise temps much higher than I need for the inhabitants. So, what else is there that will get light down far enough for me to grow some plants? I'm thinking of some Java Fern (regular and lace), some of that wispy stuff that beck sent me (can't remember the name to save a life... Hopefully he knows what I'm talking about...), anything other than that, I don't know... I might have a split I can take off an amazon sword, but I don't know how it would do in there... I do have a melon sword as well that I could move, but only if it would do well in low light. I have a wee bit of that "wispy stuff" (lol) and some of what I assume is guppy grass in the tank, but it all just kind of floats around, lol... The CWD uprooted all of that little stuff... She's not in there now though, so I think I should be able to grow some low light plants as long as I can get a little more light to the water.

Anywho, any help is appreciated, as always! Thanks in advance, guys.

[eddyplaner]

Hi

I also looking for lighting system for my 4ft air down to water!

What i recieved some good advices form other forums, and beck...some said MH and other say halogen but i find those lighting system will cook my upper plants and my power supply will be USD 100 per month just for those high power light system.

Another alternate is TSHO light. I'll be considering 2 set of 4x39wT5HO but...again the cost of power supply is still high.

I'm in midst to look the low watt lighting system will high output beam like LED light.Maybe I'll have to DIY 8 powerful LED light system of only 25w but this going to cost me USD 200 with all the materials like transfomer, aluminium heat sank, silver soilder and so on.

just wait I will upload you more DIY LED system with minimal cost. Let me get back to you in a week time.

[froggsong]

LEDs would probably work... I just need something that I can find readily in a local situation. It's possible that a halogen spot might not create too much ambient heat, since it disperses it in a fairly narrow beam, but I'm not sure... The lizards in the tank do best with the temps I already have, just a bit above room temp. I might pick up a bulb when i go to town today and see how it works out. If it heats it up too much, I can just return the bulb.

[Epiphile]

I think that halogen lighting is pretty poor for plant growth- it's somewhat along the lines of standard incandescent lamps. You'll lose a lot of the wattage as heat for sure.

Are you able to cool the hood that the lights are in? That may bgive you more options- anything that's able to get light down that far is going to be a bit warm. Maybe looking at a good aluminum reflector might be a good idea- even one of the narrow dome ones from the hardware store might focus light from a CFL to where you need it. And using the highest wattage you can find always helps- I just switched out the lamps in my Exo-Terra hood to 42W from 26W and the difference is amazing. But then of course you're back to the heat thing...

[beckdg]

like aaron said, vho cfl with good reflection... directional, like a dome lamp should be good for narrowing it.

a polished reflector will really help, imo. 26" might be doable with 26 watts in a dome light since it'll put most of the light straight down, idk. i'd try it with some guppy grass and ambulia at first and see how that goes. the swords should be able to grow out of the water to get extra light and co2 also... if you have enough light.

a small t5ho setup with good reflectors should do the trick too, but then we're talking investing in the fixture also. i know t2 is making a rise, but don't know if there are any t2 bulbs made good for plants. it might be worth it to check through home depot at their under cabinet fixtures and see what bulbs are in them.

for led's to be an option you'll need high output ones and to diy the fixture and it'll still be a hefty investment to put together. it'll cost less after the first year or 2 overall and last pretty long. as well they're adjustable with a dimmer once they're up. the pluses are there already except knowing how to make the circuits and initial price.

i thought halogen was crap for plants too, but apparently a couple places sell them for plants. i don't know if there's anything special about them.

[froggsong]

Thanks guys. I'll have to give it a try with a more narrow dome. There is no hood, so that's not as much as an issue, but I still don't want to heat the enclosure any more than it already is (the lights I have now are heating it just right, and they are all CFL). I'm thinking of swapping at least one more of the bulbs for the slightly bluer ones I got for $1 per at HD on clearance. They are actually helping my broms color back up! The light penetrates better as well, so that's a plus. I'm also considering getting a new ballast for the light hood that I am using on the tank (one of those with two ceramic sockets and a T8 strip). It's bright white on the inside and reflects quite well, but I lose a little of the light as it passes through the eggcrate that is the top of the tank (it IS a light diffuser, after all). SO currently I am running two 27W (I know, odd wattage, right?), one in the hood and one in another dome fixture, and one 26W that needs to be swapped (getting older than I know is useful). The dome fixture is situated above some broms on the side that are over the water, but the broms block most of the light. The place I was thinking of adding another light is where I had the red heat lamp when the CWD was in the tank, and it is positioned directly above the water, with no eggcrate to diffuse the light.

Is it possible to further direct the light from a CFL in a narrow dome by using something reflective on the inside to reduce the opening in the dome?

The amount of light I currently have isn't much, but I am getting really good growth with this. My broms are even turning red again with the bluer light. The schefflera has to be trimmed every two or three weeks to maintain the shape/height I want. The pothos I put in is beginning to climb well too, but pothos will even grow in the dark, lol...

I'd like to add another T8 strip in the front of the tank as well (not enough light in the front to reach my plants that are planted under the schefflera), but I can't afford it ATM (it would also block the spot for a light over the water).

I'll have to wait till next payday to change anything, unless I return a few things to HD, lol...