I need some info before I go buy lights at the fish store. The guy there is telling me the best lights I should get are two double rows of T-5 Lights spanning the whole length of my tank (would be a total of 8, 3 foot lights) I currently have cryptocorynes which after researching on here, found out to be low level lights (same as he said) I want to get some saggitaria for the foreground which he tells me, and the forum tells me are a high level light. Right now I have 3 of those basic hood ligths like you would find at petsmart or somewhere like that. Would the three of those directed over the back of the tank, plus two 3 foot double bulb T-5's spanning the front of my tank be sufficient lighting for the sagg's? He is telling me I should have the T-5's covering the whole tank. I'm afraid he's just trying to sell me stuff I don't need. Is T-5 really the best way to go here? I looked at the lights/fixtures and they were around $55 a piece, which is something I could live with. Is there something cheaper that is just as effective? Okay, I'm going to keep the rest of my questions out for now since I already asked about 5 already. Thanks everyone!
Best lights to use for my plants?
- Thread starter hcky4206sic6
- Start date
first off, what size tank do you have? and are you running pressurized co2, or planning on doing so?
Oh, it is an 80 gallon long. 6 feet long by 2 feet wide and two feet tall. I am not running a co2 system nor did I plan to. I never actually looked into one so I am not sure how complex it is, or if I even need one. I don't think my tank will be heavily planted enough for one. I put this fertilizer in once a week which is something I was told would help out.
if you dont plan on using co2 i would advise against high intensity lights like T5HOs. some will say that its possible, but i think these type of lights are best left for high tech/high light/pressurized co2 setups that run a daily dosing routine.
if you really want to run T5HOs, id suggest going for about 1 watt per gallon. anything more than this and you could start to run into algae issues.
4 of the 3ft T5 bulbs would give you 156w (39x4). i would run two 4ft fixtures that have two bulbs each and overlap them in the middle since your tank is only 6ft long. that would give you 216w (54x4).
if you really want to run T5HOs, id suggest going for about 1 watt per gallon. anything more than this and you could start to run into algae issues.
4 of the 3ft T5 bulbs would give you 156w (39x4). i would run two 4ft fixtures that have two bulbs each and overlap them in the middle since your tank is only 6ft long. that would give you 216w (54x4).
its a 180g, 6x2x2. im assuming he left off the "1" in front of 80g. 216w would give approx 1.2wpgFSM;2697726;2697726 said:you said not to use T5s, or to stay at 1 WPG if he does use them...and then recommended more than 2 WPG.
are you sure it measures 6x2x2? thats what you said in post #3. if these dimensions are correct, there is NO WAY thats an 80g tankhcky4206sic6;2697967;2697967 said: