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Hey everybody,
So i am making 40 gal palu (obviously, check the title haha) and was wondering about the lighting.
Keep in mind that i am trying to keep it as cheap as possible-under $50 hopefully.
-THe plants will be almost all tropical plants.
-The intended animal may be a lizard so the light must have UVB in it
-The water part of the palu will have fish in it so any needed light for that as well.
I have heard of the one watt per gallon saying. Is that usually true or will it change because i have a nano-aquarium in it?
When looking at lights at pet stores or fish stores, there have been a couple different kinds: some have the two little prongs at each end and are one solid tube, others have both sets of prongs at one end and looks like one tube that does a 180 at one end. Are there differences between the two kinds?
I do not know much about the K rating. Do i need specific ratings or a couple of different bulbs for different K ratings?
Also, i do not have a fixture yet. I do not really know what i need to set u the lights and the pre setup kits seem a little on the expensive side and i think that i could buy the things seperately myself.
I assume that i need
-a reflector (the big tmetal thing behind the lights but i heard that some have a reflector in the bulb)
-a ballast (i think that is the thing that the bulb plugs/screws into)
The top of the palu will have a custom built cover. Does this mean that i still need a reflector? Can i just mount the ballast (correct me if im wrong) to the wood sides and plug in the light right there?
The top of the tank is a piece of plexiglass that is about 1/8 or 1/4 inches thick. Will the light penetrate that and all the nutrients get through or do i need to cut a hole and screen over it for the light to penetrate?
Thanks in advance for all of the help.
This is my first big palu and so any extra lighting or other info will be helpful.
-Jeremy
So i am making 40 gal palu (obviously, check the title haha) and was wondering about the lighting.
Keep in mind that i am trying to keep it as cheap as possible-under $50 hopefully.
-THe plants will be almost all tropical plants.
-The intended animal may be a lizard so the light must have UVB in it
-The water part of the palu will have fish in it so any needed light for that as well.
I have heard of the one watt per gallon saying. Is that usually true or will it change because i have a nano-aquarium in it?
When looking at lights at pet stores or fish stores, there have been a couple different kinds: some have the two little prongs at each end and are one solid tube, others have both sets of prongs at one end and looks like one tube that does a 180 at one end. Are there differences between the two kinds?
I do not know much about the K rating. Do i need specific ratings or a couple of different bulbs for different K ratings?
Also, i do not have a fixture yet. I do not really know what i need to set u the lights and the pre setup kits seem a little on the expensive side and i think that i could buy the things seperately myself.
I assume that i need
-a reflector (the big tmetal thing behind the lights but i heard that some have a reflector in the bulb)
-a ballast (i think that is the thing that the bulb plugs/screws into)
The top of the palu will have a custom built cover. Does this mean that i still need a reflector? Can i just mount the ballast (correct me if im wrong) to the wood sides and plug in the light right there?
The top of the tank is a piece of plexiglass that is about 1/8 or 1/4 inches thick. Will the light penetrate that and all the nutrients get through or do i need to cut a hole and screen over it for the light to penetrate?
Thanks in advance for all of the help.
This is my first big palu and so any extra lighting or other info will be helpful.
-Jeremy