Lighting suggestions

[DMasker]

So I'm in the final stages of setting up my 180 gallon. I'm almost done building the hood and need some advice. I have two 4 foot T5 fixtures, so it would be 4x 28w bulbs. It's a 6 foot tank so 4 feet of it would overlap. My question is, is this enough lighting? The plants in there seem to be doing well with just one fixture, one colormax bulb and one 10k bulb. Should I spend the money and get two T5HO fixtures at 36 inch or overlap them and go for two 48 inchers?

This is the fixture I am looking at.


Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[z400]

IMO, I think you would be much happier with 4 total 36" T5HO fixtures. Thats a total of 8 bulbs.

Your aquarium is 180 gallons. 2 36" fixtures with 2 T5Ho bulbs is only going to give you 156 watts total.
that is less then 1 watt per gallon.



Maybe before i get into this conversation any further i should ask what your growing, what you are expecting, and a complete list of your current set up for the 180g. \



Im growing plants in a 90 gallon that is a med-high tech set up.
Pressurized Co2, 4x54w of T5HO, and fertilizers. I HAVE to trim every 3-4 weeks or else i'll have a giant mess on my hands.

 

[DMasker]

Was looking for a medium setup. What about getting two of the 36 inch t5ho fixtures and combining them with the current ones for medium light? Also, I thought the whole watt per gallon rule was rubbish?

 

[z400]

That should work great.

Are you planning on doing any sort of CO2 dosing?
You might have to cut back one one of the 4ft fixtures without CO2 to prevent algae outbreaks.

Planted tanks are trial and error, no set up is similar to another. They all run and perform differently.


Take a look at these -

http://www.aquatraders.com/36-inch-2x39W-T5-Aquarium-Light-Fixture-p/52122p.htm

http://www.aquatraders.com/72-inch-4x80W-T5-Aquarium-Light-Fixture-p/52307.htm



Of course with the 72" fixture, CO2 would be a must if you were to run the entire set of lights.

 

[brich999]

3words... L.E.D.

 

[predatorfish1]

huh just make sure the lighting is bright. just get a light that can fit across the tank

 

[raver]

you can get a 4ft 8bulb t5, that would give you about 432 watts. it will be a bit smaller than the length of you tank but i think its more than enough light.