Best bang for my buck? Lighting

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zebvance

Candiru
MFK Member
Dec 2, 2009
927
0
46
College Station TX
Im looking into some new lights for my 240 for xmas. Right now I have 2 48" double bulb t12 VHO's each bulb running 40 watts so 160 watts total. It is bearly enought light to see new groth coming from the hair grass in there. I dont want the lights for plants cause I dont plan on putting anymore in the tank. Just want more to see the fish better, and the bottom of the tank. So my question is what is the best bang for my buck. I would like to not go over 300 dollars if possible. and I would like to get at least around 500 watts total on the whole tank. Im looking for a cheap pair of 48" lights with the most wattage for 150 a piece. After I get the new lights I would like to sell the old ones, can somebody tell me what would be a good price to ask for them. I am attachinga pic of the light I currently have and then a pic of the tank.

Oh and I have a coralife t5 fixture on my 46 gallon and I like the look of with with the legs on it. something else like that would be nice.

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Any idea what I can sell the old light for guys? Also up for more suggestions on lighting.
 
based on your photo, I would leave it alone. your tank looks bright as is.

if you try and put 500w on a basically non planted tank its going to turn green very very quickly.

don't go T5HO. even on a jungle of a planted tank, I still battle algae like crazy.

the T5HO's are super bright and are only good for super densely planted tanks.

just for reference, I have 78w of T5HO (Hagen Powerglo) light on my 65g and even with all these plants its still a battle against the algae:

not trying to discourage you, just pointing out the modern T5 HO's are only for really densely planted tanks, otherwise its algae central :)

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Also how long has the hairgrass been planted?

I had a single strand of hairgrass tag along in a plant package that I stuck into my tank. It took over 2 months before it started sending runners but once it did it spread like a weed.
 
PostalPenguin;4575711; said:
Also how long has the hairgrass been planted?

I had a single strand of hairgrass tag along in a plant package that I stuck into my tank. It took over 2 months before it started sending runners but once it did it spread like a weed.
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About 5 months. I also didn't see any new growth for about 2 months or so. I have one hairgrass plant in each corner. The one on the left it starting to get pretty thing but the one on the corner with the big stump part of the drift wood has maybe 4 strains of grass it is growing very slowly and not much new growth at all. I think It is because the stump is blocking the majority of the light.
 
12 Volt Man;4575700; said:
based on your photo, I would leave it alone. your tank looks bright as is.

if you try and put 500w on a basically non planted tank its going to turn green very very quickly.

don't go T5HO. even on a jungle of a planted tank, I still battle algae like crazy.

the T5HO's are super bright and are only good for super densely planted tanks.

just for reference, I have 78w of T5HO (Hagen Powerglo) light on my 65g and even with all these plants its still a battle against the algae:

not trying to discourage you, just pointing out the modern T5 HO's are only for really densely planted tanks, otherwise its algae central :)
Click to expand...


There is a lot of cubic feet in the tank so I dont think 2 watts per gallon with be to much spread over 16 cubic feet. also algae shouldn't be a problem because I am getting a big uv sterilizer before I get the lights. I do however still want to get new light just for aesthetic purposes anyway. But, thank you for your input and I will take it into consideration.
 
zebvance;4575726; said:
There is a lot of cubic feet in the tank so I dont think 2 watts per gallon with be to much spread over 16 cubic feet. also algae shouldn't be a problem because I am getting a big uv sterilizer before I get the lights. I do however still want to get new light just for aesthetic purposes anyway. But, thank you for your input and I will take it into consideration.
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no problem. just be aware that the watts per gallon rule goes out the window with T5 HO's. I only have 78w over a 65g (36x18) which on paper isn't much, but because the light output of the HO T5's is so high its crazy bright.

what you can do is if you do decide to go T5HO and find it is too bright/you get too much algae, one option is to suspend the fixtures higher above your tank. when I was researching T5 HO's for my planted tank this is one option that was recommended to me.

good luck
 
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