Hood & Lights for New Aquarium

[saugata]

Hi! All,

Am planning to start a new aquarium of the following dimension 4' x 2' x 20 inches. The tank would have 3 inches of substrate and would have a gap of 1 inch on the top. So for all practical purpose the height of the water column would be 16 inches. I would like to keep a big driftwood in the middle and cover it with Java Fern & Anubias. Behind this I would like to put a Nuphar Japonica and some spiral Vallesneria & Crypts randomly. I want this tank to be partially planted. The fauna I am planning to have are 4-5 medium size Orandas. As of now I am not planning to go for a hi-tech tank with lots of expensive lights & ferts etc. I don't want to add any ferts as such. As I am planning to keep Orandas I am sure they will provide enough macros and for the micros I will stick to 50% weekly w/c. But since I already have the equipments for CO2 injection I plan to use it. Now I would like to know is this possible and if yes how much light I would require? In Philips sells a light termed as "Philips Trulite" which is widely used by planted tank enthusiasts. The specification of this light is as follows:-

Bulb Shape: T8
Bulb Finish: INTERNALLY COATED
Watt (W): 36
Volt (V): 103
Cap Base: G13
Color Temperature (K): 6500
Lumen (Lm): 6500.0
Beam Angle (o): -
Line Frequency (Hz): 50
Color Rendering Index (Ra): 85
Color Descriptions: COOL DAYLIGHT

Moreover for the hood my plan is to have an acrylic sheet with an acrylic mirror fitted underneath as a reflector. Each light will also be separated by a piece of mirror sheet so that lights from one tube doesn't mixes with the light from another tube. I have this hood on my present 2' tank & its quite neat. The hood doesn't get heated up also and the light is also quite good. What's your take on this?

Looking forward to comments.

Regards,

Saugata

[gajula]

Hi Saugata,

I was just thinking on the same lines for mine but have more questions than answers.

I was looking at the Philips site too and they seem to be having 58W FLs with different color renderings, but at 6500K. Am wondering if I can replace my chinese made 20W Plant FL bulb with one of these, since the light seems inadequate.

I checked with Bajaj guys and they say Cool Day light is good for plants too.

Is Tin foil a better reflector or do you prefer your mirror? Is it glass mirror- or did you say acrylic?

Please let me know if you managed to get some answers.

Thanks,
Gajula