Enough Light?

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Big_Z

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 13, 2008
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South Central PA
Currently stockpiling lighting resources to work out the lighting for a 55 gallon planted tank I am working on. According to the sticky about Lumens I need about 35,000 for a heavily planted tank. That works out to me needing to use 8-9 75W(around 4k Lumens a Piece) Metal Halides (The only reason I am going with those is that I already have 5 bulbs/ballasts). Is it just me or does that seem really really bright? Is there something I am missing or do planted tanks need ALOT of light? Also I have been hearing conflicting opinions on the best Kelvin range some have said 5K while others are saying closer to the 10K mark is best. I would like someone experienced in planted tanks to let me know what they are using.
Thanks,
 
high lighting for freshwater planted tanks is a myth. check out the other sticky, based on PAR and distance from the bottom of the tank.
 
I looked at that but for the life of me I could not figure out how my MHs would be rated on that chart. Thats why I went to the lumens one bc. I know that watts is outdated with all the new bulbs of similar wattage and drastically different light output. Having seen your planted tank I am confident that you are great with plants. If you only had 75W metal halide bulbs to use how many would you throw on a 55?
 
Bigger question, what kind of lighting do you want? Moderate, high, extremely high, put on a welding mask it's too bright?

For a 55G I would run 2 75W MH for high light. Personally I would have gone for a 175W MH or 250W.
 
Hoppy did create another chart with a metal halide as a reference point. here's the details. i dont know too much about MH lighting. the power consumption has always put me off, so i never bothered to research. i like to think about operating costs as well...

Hoppy said:
Today, I went back over the data I received from others about various types of bulbs and fixtures, and realized that I could characterize non-AHS PC lights as well as the AHS lights, and that I had one data point for a 150 watt HQI fixture. So, I added that to my chart of PAR vs distance, double checking how I derived that chart. It changed a little, on double checking, but not significantly. Of course the HQI line is just there for comparison, it isn't nearly good enough to use for selecting that type of fixture. The other lines should be good enough to get you into the low, medium or high light categories pretty reliably.
PARforVariousBulbs.jpg
Click to expand...
 
I had the 75w bulbs and ballast from back when I grew orchids. Its easier to use them than to buy new ones plus I am hoping the smaller bulbs will lead to a more even light instead of brightest at the center. Thanks for your input. I was wondering how bright my room would be with nine of them turned on :D I wonder how long it will take before the increase in my power bill overcomes the amount of money I think I am saving by not just buying a good tube setup now.
 
Well MH at 75W isn't very much... think about it this way, if you turn on a standard lightbulb, it is anywhere from 60-100W. That doesn't really add too much to your bill, compared to the ~500W a refrigerator uses. The light output however, is far higher on a MH per watt than that of even HO T5.
 
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