Should I invest in a light that’s considered medium-high light? Like the finnex plant

[jonmaroutsis]

So I have a 55 gallon tank with aqua soil substrate and just started injecting co2 today from a 20 oz paintball tank and mini regulator. I plan on upgrading to a bigger system in the upcoming months as I know I’ll be refilling quite often with only 20 oz. I didn’t realize how addicting and interesting this hobby can become but I love it. Lol. Anyway I bought a Nicrew LED a month ago for about $60-70 dollars off amazon. Reading more into this hobby however I’m not sure if this light is adequate enough for all the plants I have (I have 17 different species currently in and I am trying to carpet pearl weed and dwarf hair grass on the two sides of the tank). Is it worth it to invest in a Finnex Planted Plus light for $150 because it’s considered for medium-high light plants? Or am I wasting my money? I also plan on starting the EI method of fertilizing. Thanks for any feedback or advice!

 

[Brookster123]

Lighting will make a difference for sure. It's a s tall tank but the 24/7 will do well for low/med light plants.

 

[jonmaroutsis]

Lighting will make a difference for sure. It's a s tall tank but the 24/7 will do well for low/med light plants.

Do I need high light though if I want to carpet and have a lot of plants? Could you recommend one for me if I do?

 

[Brookster123]

Don't need it... it may take a while but you can do it with certain plants. Staur repens. High light on that tank would be expensive...

 

[Bert2oo1]

Don't need it... it may take a while but you can do it with certain plants. Staur repens. High light on that tank would be expensive...

I’m with brookster, if your wanting to go into high lighting you may need to get 2x kessil Tuna suns or 2x 16” SB FW reef lights. To get into seriously high lighting on a 55g your looking at some pretty expensive gear.

Medium-high lighting (say 2x finnex fixtures) will grow basically all plants but if you want the really light intensive plants or extreme reds you’ll want strong lights.

Also it would be worth your while to make a co2 reactor if you running canister filters.

Here’s 2 diy reactors that are cheap to make:
Griggs - http://rotalabutterfly.com/rex-grigg/diy-reactor.htm

Cerges - https://glassboxgardeners.com/threads/how-to-build-a-cerges-co2-reactor.346/

A reactor will make your co2 last a lot longer and give a much better spread of co2 in your tank [emoji106]

 

[jonmaroutsis]

I’m with brookster, if your wanting to go into high lighting you may need to get 2x kessil Tuna suns or 2x 16” SB FW reef lights. To get into seriously high lighting on a 55g your looking at some pretty expensive gear.

Medium-high lighting (say 2x finnex fixtures) will grow basically all plants but if you want the really light intensive plants or extreme reds you’ll want strong lights.

Also it would be worth your while to make a co2 reactor if you running canister filters.

Here’s 2 diy reactors that are cheap to make:
Griggs - http://rotalabutterfly.com/rex-grigg/diy-reactor.htm

Cerges - https://glassboxgardeners.com/threads/how-to-build-a-cerges-co2-reactor.346/

A reactor will make your co2 last a lot longer and give a much better spread of co2 in your tank [emoji106]

I have a glass diffuser and reactor already. I’m buying a few powerheads to get better circulation throughout the tank. I guess I’m just going to invest in the finnex planted 24/7. I don’t have that kind of money to spend $500+ on lights.

 

[Bert2oo1]

I have a glass diffuser and reactor already. I’m buying a few powerheads to get better circulation throughout the tank. I guess I’m just going to invest in the finnex planted 24/7. I don’t have that kind of money to spend $500+ on lights.

Make sure to check the par rating at your tank depth of the fixture u buy. For mid to high you’ll want 50+ at substrate level for most carpet plants [emoji106]

 

[jonmaroutsis]

How do I find out which have 50+ par? Can you recommend one to me?

 

[Bert2oo1]

How do I find out which have 50+ par? Can you recommend one to me?

Finnex 24/7 has 45 par at 20” depth on max.

Finnex stingray has 21 at 20”

Finnex Ray2 has 75 at 20”

Fluval plant 2.0 has 67-80 at 20”

Current satilite+ has 20+ at 20”

That’s a few to get u started [emoji23]

Not really sure what’s available at your tank size. Majority of lights I know of that are used for larger tanks are in the $500+ range [emoji37]

Edit: I’ve heard a few people talking about the quality of finnex laterly. The fluval has a better warranty and is apparently very well built.

End of the day u get what you pay for I guess

 

[jonmaroutsis]

Fluval 2.0 looks good for $185. You think it’s worth the investment? You think I’d be able to carpet with it while also injecting co2?

 

[Bert2oo1]

Fluval 2.0 looks good for $185. You think it’s worth the investment? You think I’d be able to carpet with it while also injecting co2?

Absolutely. It should be more than enough if the par ratings are correct. I got the rating from the fluval website so it should be accurate. [emoji106] there is 3 different models on the website so I’d sus them out.

 

[ZxC]

Go with fluval, check out this review on a 75 gallon. Great light, I have a 36" model and it is wayyyyy too much light for a 16" tall tank, so 20" would be perfect high light. Plus, a 55 gal is not that wide so front-back coverage will be good.

A Review and Comparison: Fluval Fresh & Plant 2.0 Fixture - The Planted Tank Forum