[dirtbomb]

hey guys. so i just finished with the construction part of my first viv, a 29gal tank. now just getting ready to order some plants. i managed to build a light fixture out of emt conduit for an exoterra hood. the compacthood floats above the tank around 6 inches and im currently using 3 14 watt cfls. Do yall think my light setup would be fine for such plants as terrarium moss and bromiliads. if not do yall think i should use a higher watt bulb such as a 19 watt cfl?

Thanks

 

[Shinosuke]

I'm using two 24W (or 27W? I can't remember now) 65k CFLs on my 29 gallon viv and have been getting good growth for the few weeks I've been using them. They're attached to a DIY hood that's really just a rain gutter and I haven't had any heat issues. I'm NOT an expert but I would think that what you have is enough light to at least keep stuff alive. If you're able to add more light then it would probably help.
What color are your bulbs? From what I understand 65k is ideal.

 

[ckays]

That's correct, the wattage is not all that important assuming you are meeting temperature requirements and light is making it to the bottom of the viv.

You will want something in the 5000k-6500K range for good plant growth.
I have a 6500K 23W CFL (more to add heat during these cold winter months) and a 13W LED from LYR (love the output of this thing) and I am very happy with my growth.

 

[mordoria]

For single tanks, I think LEDs are the best. It can be costly at first but in the long run they work the best. No heat issues, and you can put them so close to the top to get maximum penetration.
You can also build easy custom hoods to fit in odd situations.
6500k is the best color regardless of which bulb u use. Cfl "leak" light and dont focus all those lumens into the tank. In the summer you might get issues with heat so keep that in mind.

With Cfl, I like to use to use 2.5 watts of light per gallon. I keep that about 3-4 inches above a tank. They seem bright visually but they dont give off very much light. 6" above would be ok but, each inch higher loses 2x the amount of light. 1"-1x, 2"-2x, 3"-4x, 4" -8x, 5"-16x and so on.
3x 23w CFLs would be ideal for brom coloring and strong moss growth. You could get away with 2x 23w. Again, this could cause a heat issue. If it did, you could try blowing a fan across the lights.
2 x 11w,14w LEDs would be more focused lumens and almost no heat.

 

[B-NICE]

The norm is 65k. When I 1st started I was using 25k soft white, I still was getting good growth. I switched all of those soft white to Daylight bulbs and the vivs look much better now. I'm not sure but those soft whites might give off more heat. My lights now are 5000K. I may switch a few of them to 65k.

 

[dirtbomb]

thanks for the imput guys. yea im using 65k daylight cfls. they seem bright but i was getting the feeling that there wasnt much actual light being produced. i think i could be ok with the heat produced by 23w cfls since i have 6 inches of air space btween the light and the tank