light recommendations please!!

[david yurik]

i have a 5 foot wide 29" tall perfecto 125. i have a t-8 dual lamp 4 foot light and have been struggling with bulb choices. i keep a planted freshwater community tank and need to use the correct lights for plants and fish. here is what i'm thinking.

for slightly deeper penetration i like the coralife 10K. the spectrum looks good for plants and the 10K i think will help with penetration to to bottom.

i should also say i am using a temporary 8k 24" bulb until i get the 4 footers going. i tried a 6200K hagen sunglo and hated it. the tank looked yellow to me so i really don't want anything softer on the K scale. i would say at least 8K or higher.

so what should my second bulb be? what is a good compliment to the coralife 10K?

thanks.

dave

 

[david yurik]

the sunglo was 4200 not 6200. very yellow and came off 10 seconds after i tried it.

dave

 

[virgil2090]

why not use 2 10K bulbs,too much? i agree that 29 tall would benefit from the stronger light.i have seen 6500K bulbs.leds could possibly be used as some fill in,or shimmer effects

 

[Livinviggen]

Im in the same boat I just set up my new 150XH (48x24x31) and have already planted it. This is my first attempt at a planted tank I could use some tips as well. I currently have a 48" corallife 2 bulb unit. The tank is 31" high so keep that in mind. Thanks

 

[leafs and cats only]

people with their tall tanks....

 

[david yurik]

people with their tall tanks....

this is the first AND LAST tall tank i get. its such a pain to reach the bottom. i wont ever setup anything deeper than 24" in the future. i stopped at one of my lfs's and really like the thought of an 18K hagen power glo. i found another thread where the setup switched to these very 18K bulbs. the discus were beautiful under the 18K.

dave

 

[david yurik]

here is what i went with and i'm very happy. its just rigged up right now so don't knock the install. my scape needs work but the lighting is pretty good. the 48" utility light was $13.52 from lowes. the bulbs were $21.99 each at my local petsmart. overall it lights the tank nicely from front to back and side to side.

i used a lowes dual 48" T-8 utility light and screwed some 2X4's together above the tank to hold it.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_313520-58659-NXU-6000EBL_0__?productId=3684850&Ntt=utilitech+48%22&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dutilitech%2B48%2522&facetInfo=


i used a 48" 32 watt aqueon floramax in the back slot. it doesn't say the K but i would put it around 8 to 10 K. its not as white as my other bulb but its white just the way i like it. it could be 6500K for all i know.




i used a 48" 32 watt coralife 10K daylight bulb in the front slot. its definately whiter than the aqueon.




here are some tank shots.

 

[lp85253]

here is what i went with and i'm very happy. its just rigged up right now so don't knock the install. my scape needs work but the lighting is pretty good. the 48" utility light was $13.52 from lowes. the bulbs were $21.99 each at my local petsmart. overall it lights the tank nicely from front to back and side to side.

i used a lowes dual 48" T-8 utility light and screwed some 2X4's together above the tank to hold it.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_313520-58659-NXU-6000EBL_0__?productId=3684850&Ntt=utilitech+48%22&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dutilitech%2B48%2522&facetInfo=


i used a 48" 32 watt aqueon floramax in the back slot. it doesn't say the K but i would put it around 8 to 10 K. its not as white as my other bulb but its white just the way i like it. it could be 6500K for all i know.

View attachment 788581


i used a 48" 32 watt coralife 10K daylight bulb in the front slot. its definately whiter than the aqueon.

View attachment 788580


here are some tank shots.

View attachment 788582
View attachment 788583
View attachment 788584

that looks nice for a low budget (like mine)set up

 

[david yurik]

that looks nice for a low budget (like mine)set up

it's how i roll. some call it cheap - i call it thrifty / frugal. it nice to experiment with plants $3 at a time too. i can figure out what i like and what i don't without spending much coin.

dave