lighting issue

[steeledarren]

hi there i was wondering if it was worth investing in something new. i have my eyes on Aqua One T5 Over Tank Luminaire, could anyone advise me on this, my tank currently just has stock lighting. not sure what it is it comes with the aqua one 650s, thankyou

 

[Crepe]

Do you plan on keeping plants? Also how large is the tank.

 

[steeledarren]

i plan on keeping a few plants, the tank is 220 litres uk, thanks

 

[Crepe]

Oh, one more thing, what type of plants are you thinking about? You are looking at 60-150 watts for low-medium light and then 160-250 watts for high light/very high lights.

 

[steeledarren]

to be honest just beginner plants at the moment, but was looking into getting more plants as my experience grown, but as of yet just java fern and e. densa. oh and moss balls thanks

 

[taylorodw]

You should be okay with any sort of T5 for those plants. Java Fern and E. Densa (known around here as Anacharis) are both hardy low-light plants that would be fine. Crepe's wattage guidelines are good for deciding what you want to grow. Use PlantGeek.net - Your Aquatic Plant Resource to check out aquatic plants and see what you'd like to grow eventually, then you can purchase a fixture that way.

If you just want to get a light now and worry about all that later, any sort of T5 should suffice for those plants (you could also do some Anubias), as they put off quite a lot of light, and those plants don't need that much.

Anacharis is good because it should soak up the "extra" light and nutrients.