Need light combo recommendations

[Beetlebug515]

Hello all. I'm looking for a recommendation on which lights to use for my planted tank. I'll start with the specs:

Tank is 24×24×18. Square footprint.
Plants are numerous, but the important ones are red ludwigia, glossostigma, dwarf hairgrass, and some dwarf baby tears soon. Fish consist of 4 cardinal tetras, 2 siamese algae eaters, 1 bushy nose, one starlight preconceived, and my breeding pair of angels.
I'm using a mix of eco complete and fluorite substrate, pressurized co2 at a concentration of about 35ppm, and I'm dosing flourish, iron, potassium, nitrogen (I have to), and phosphorus. All of the plants in the pic and then some were stuffed in a 20 for a long while using a single Finnex planted + light. With the new, larger footprint of my tank, I still haven't nailed down exactly what lighting I want to use. Soooo......

Lights in my possession:
1 24" Finnex planted+
1 24" t5ho dual lamp fixture with 2 wave point ultra growth bulbs
2 24" current satellite pro+


What combination would you guys use?

 

[Beetlebug515]

Also, can anyone ID the stem plants on the right?

 

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

I would go with the T5HO, and replace one of the ultra growth wave bulbs with a 6500k bulb... While the the ultra growth wave bulb is the perfect bulb that targets the peaks in both chlorophyll A & B, you still want a day bulb like the 6500k that gives it "natural day light" (6500k is close to natural sunlight).

Without a natural day bulb you're only matching the chlorophyll stages, and nothing else...

 

[Beetlebug515]

So you are suggesting using only 1 t5 fixture to cover a 24×24 footprint?

 

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

Well, I would run it with1x 6500k bulb and 1x ultra growth wave bulb.

Here's the wavelengths that a T5HO 6500k bulb puts out.

This is why it's the most commonly used spectrum of bulb for planted tanks, because of the wavelengths associated with the 6500k spectrum.

 

[Beetlebug515]

It's a dual bulb. Just want to make sure I get high light over the whole footprint.

 

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

I would put the T5HO fixture right in the middle of the tank, this will insure the entire tank is getting light.

Reason I prefer T5HO light fixture for planted tank is quite simple... They are easy to "manipulate", by this I mean with the wide assortment of bulbs available to use for the T5HO it allows you to target certain aspects in a planted tank as well as a live coral saltwater tank.

For me personally I prefer T5HO quad systems, simply because there's absolutely no "dark" areas in the tank (under rocks and caves don't count). I have a specific lighting schedule for my tank.

8am - 2 front bulbs turn on
10am - 2 rear bulbs turn on
2pm - 2 front bulbs shut off
5pm - 2 rear bulbs shut off

List of bulbs I use from front to back...
6500k
420nm actinic
12,000k 460nm Bright white actinic
WavePoint ultra growth wave

So with this bulb selection, combined with my lighting schedule the tank has 9 hours of light. But, with a 4 hour burst of light with all 4 bulbs turned on; Basically the tank is getting "morning" light, then midday high light, and then "evening" light, and the entire time both chlorophyll A & B peaks are being targeted.