Best lights to use for my plants?
- Thread starter hcky4206sic6
- Start date
jcardona1;2698460; said:
It is definitley an 80 gallon, but I may have the width dimension wrong. It is definitely 6 feet long though. I'll retake the width and depth measurements and get back with you guys.
Ok guys, the verdict is in and my tank is six feet long, by 13 inches wide and 21 inches deep. So what do you propose for proper lighting in my case?
ok so yeah thats roughly 85g. when you say 21" deep, is that the height? so the tank is 72x13x21 (LxWxH), right?
if you want T5HO, i would run two 3ft, dual bulb fixtures, but only turn on one bank of lights in fixture. 3ft bulbs are 39w each, so two bulbs on at a time would give you 78w of T5HO lighting, approx 1wpg.
and if you decide to run co2 in the future, you have the extra bank of lights you could turn on and give you about 2wpg
if you want T5HO, i would run two 3ft, dual bulb fixtures, but only turn on one bank of lights in fixture. 3ft bulbs are 39w each, so two bulbs on at a time would give you 78w of T5HO lighting, approx 1wpg.
and if you decide to run co2 in the future, you have the extra bank of lights you could turn on and give you about 2wpg
jcardona1;2703043; said:
Yeah that would be 21" in height. Is T5HO the same as just plain T5? I was told to get two sets of 3 foot dual bulb fixtures. So basically I would have 4 bulbs front to back the whole span of the tank. Are you thinking that would be too much? I'm looking to plant some high level lighting, low sitting plants in the front of my tank.
4 bulbs front to back? so would run those two fixtures one behind the other? i was suggesting running them side by side, and only use one bulb in each. your tank is only 13" wide, you definitely dont need to worry about the lighting reaching the span of the tank.
T5 and T5HO are different fixtures and different bulbs. as the name implies, one is high output and much brighter than the other. and remember, if you want high lighting youre gonna need co2 and dosing. thats why i suggested you stay at about 1wpg
T5 and T5HO are different fixtures and different bulbs. as the name implies, one is high output and much brighter than the other. and remember, if you want high lighting youre gonna need co2 and dosing. thats why i suggested you stay at about 1wpg
Yeah I thought 4 front to back was a little much too. I think he is just trying to sell me extra things I don't need. I haven't looked into co2 and don't want to do anything to the tank that is going to make me go down that road, only because I have no clue about anything when it comes to that. I have been using flourish excel (made by seachem) once a week for the plants I have in there. I only have about 6 crypts right now and would like to get sagittarias in the near future. Is it possible for me to get just the two 3 foot double fixture T5's (not T5HO) and keep all the lights on, to have enough lighting for the sagittarias? And if so, would this be low enough lighting to avoid co2? Sorry for all the questions, I just want to perfect the lighting as best as possible without getting in over my head. Thanks for all your help.
