Wanted: light for my planted FW aquarium wanted.

[John-Solo]

Hello! I have a 30gal tank 30"w 13"d 19"t I am looking for a good light with a higher wattage to keep my plants going. I have been looking into the Odyssea quad T5 30" 6500k does anyone have one for sale or something to the equivalent.
Thanks!

 

[FishEggs]

thats a lot of light for that tank. you will need co2 injection if you use all those bulbs to keep the algae from over taking the tank.

 

[John-Solo]

good call, do you recommend a different set up?

 

[FishEggs]

It just depends on how much you want to put into your tank. Money and time wise. Nothing wrong with a quad bulb fixture if you want high light but it is more involved. You can also usually just use half of the bulbs depending on the ballast to reduce how much light you have if you feel you will want more light in the future. That way you only spend the money once.
What type of light and wattage do you have now?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[gone fishin]

My Odysea is set on a timer and yes you can only use half of the bulbs if you like but still have an extra set if you need a boost

 

[Fresh2o]

What kind of plants do you have now and what are your plans in the future (plant wise)? As the other poster stated, if you increase the light, the other factors (ferts and CO2) need to be adjusted as well for best plant growth and to reduce to occurrence of algae.
My have a pair of T5 normal output on a shallower tank and it is fine for moss and crypts. More light demanding plants did not do well under those. I have been using a 30" Finned FugeRay over 20g long for about 10 months with good results. I have been thinking of possibly upgrading this; the BML option looks nice but pricey. The Finnex Planted+ might be ideal for my setup (currently using DIY CO2, PPS-Pro dry ferts, and glutaraldehyde).
One thing that lured me towards LEDs (aside from lower heating and operating cost) is not having the annual cost of bulb replacement with T5s. Potentially one could spend $60 for a 4 bulb setup annually. It adds up. The LEDs reported lifespan can be from anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 hours depending on the brand/model. Even at 10,000 hours at 8 hours per day, that would be about 3.4 years.

 

[John-Solo]

right now the plants I have are: cabomba, Java moss, Java ferns (about 1 1/2") moneywort, Melon Sword (about 5"), and Anacharis. I have a 20w light that I'm running a T8 grow light and I was dosing my tank with Excel once a weak but now that Iv talked to a few people I'm dosing it about every day. I would love to get a LED light but all the ones that are good for growing plants are way out of my price rang. I need to stay under $100 so it looks like florescent is going to be the way to go for now. iv been looking into setting up a CO2 system if I need it. I maybe getting ahead of my self so I'm not running to the store for that just yet.

 

[Fresh2o]

From Amazon:
Finnex FugeRay Planted+ for $87.98
Finnex FugeRay Planted+ Aquarium LED Light Plus Moonlights, 30-Inch
Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED + $91.68
Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED Plus Light for Aquarium, 24 to 36-Inch
These would be more than adequate for the plants you currently have. I would hit up the forum for reviews on these fixtures or Google it.

 

[Sillyfishies]

You can always build your own LEDs. Much cheaper.

 

[John-Solo]

Thanks a lot guys for all the help! I got what I need and hopefully my plants will do well.

 

[Brookster123]

What'd you get?

 

[John-Solo]

Its a 30" aqua marine compact light with 2 T5 bulbs in it right now that I got form a dude I met at the LFS. He said he's used it for about a year and then he upgraded his tank set up. I picked it up for $40. figured it was a good deal for now, I'm still looking into a LED set up at some point in the future.

 

[aluka]

make sure u ask how old his bulbs are, if they are older 12 months old, you should get new bulbs to aviod algae issues

 

[Brookster123]

Also.. If it was a salty setup the bulbs won't do your plants any good..

 

[John-Solo]

It was a fresh set up, he showd me some pictures, cus if your anything like me you have at least one picture of your tank on your phone, hahaha. but I didn't know that about the bulbs. he said he'd been using it for about a year so I should look into that. thanks again for all the help.