Lighting Question

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
That will work as long as you're running CO2. You'll probably want to get waterproof endcaps for the lamps, though.
 
schaadrak;1494409; said:
That will work as long as you're running CO2. You'll probably want to get waterproof endcaps for the lamps, though.
Click to expand...

What does CO2 have to do with the lights?
 
Without a good amount of CO2, your plants will not be able to process that much light, so a lot of it would be wasted. Photosynthesis uses a certain ratio of light, CO2 and nutrients, so if you increase one, you must increase the others. It's like hiring enough people to build one hundred houses, but only enough material to build twenty.
 
If you dont have plant mass, co2, and ferts balanced to those lights youll have an algae nightmare. Its not just co2 but thats a big one.

I am very leery of that listing though.

They dont give you straight information. Exactly what type of bulbs are these and how many watts? They say "Super High Output T5" IDK if this might be a particular type of T5 but I have only heard of T5HO (high output) and normal T5. The only reference to real wattage is that is makes as much light as 1.6 400W MH. That implies that either the lumens would be the same (but lumens would very wildly depending on what brand/ kelvin temp the MH were) or that they equal 1.6*400W = 640W. Divide by 8 bulbs = 80W. 80W does happen to be what 5' T5HO are. They also say its about 8 square feet but the specs say its only 53.5" long by 14" wide so that doesnt make sense. 53.5" x 14" = 5 sq ft.

See what I mean, I hate it when they seem like they are covering up the info for some reason and blasting you with advertising and what its 'equivalence' is but not what it actually is...

If your willing to spend $300 there are some better options I'm sure... might be a little more but also remember 6 bulbs with good individual reflectors like IceCap SLRs will probably be equivalent to 8 bulbs on a flat reflector if not more. What size tank is this going on?
 
]v[onster Loaches;1501160; said:
If you dont have plant mass, co2, and ferts balanced to those lights youll have an algae nightmare. Its not just co2 but thats a big one.

I am very leery of that listing though.

They dont give you straight information. Exactly what type of bulbs are these and how many watts? They say "Super High Output T5" IDK if this might be a particular type of T5 but I have only heard of T5HO (high output) and normal T5. The only reference to real wattage is that is makes as much light as 1.6 400W MH. That implies that either the lumens would be the same (but lumens would very wildly depending on what brand/ kelvin temp the MH were) or that they equal 1.6*400W = 640W. Divide by 8 bulbs = 80W. 80W does happen to be what 5' T5HO are. They also say its about 8 square feet but the specs say its only 53.5" long by 14" wide so that doesnt make sense. 53.5" x 14" = 5 sq ft.

See what I mean, I hate it when they seem like they are covering up the info for some reason and blasting you with advertising and what its 'equivalence' is but not what it actually is...

If your willing to spend $300 there are some better options I'm sure... might be a little more but also remember 6 bulbs with good individual reflectors like IceCap SLRs will probably be equivalent to 8 bulbs on a flat reflector if not more. What size tank is this going on?
Click to expand...

Trying to get an idea what lights i want for this

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1504079#post1504079
 
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