Upgrading lighting advice

[tottenham12712]

Hopefully this is an easy one

In my tank I have 4 Amazon sword and 3 Water Fern or Water sprite. The hood I have is an Aqueon which has a T8 24" Full spectrum 17watt bulb. It is just bearly cutting it with the fact that the tank gets a few hours of morning sunlight.

So Ive come to these two options:

1) Get a T5 24 watt bulb: 24" (HO,T5) Plant Grow 6,500K 24W- Aqua Medic

2) Or upgrade my current hood with a VHO ballast, ends and bulb which would allow me to be able to grow. A bulb like this: 24" (VHO, T12) 10,000K Aquasun, 75W -UV Lighting


There is a possible third which would be to fit two T5 bulbs into the hood. Im not sure which route to go. Any help would be much appreciated

 

[mohican]

Well the t5 bulb won't work in the t8/12 fixture so you would need to get a new fixture there too. I would go to t5 or t5 Ho fixture either way. Great results and I feel better lighting option.

 

[Batt4Christ]

2 x T5HO is a LOT of light on a 29g tank! Better be ready with pressurized CO2, or algae will be your next battle.

On a 10g, that would be insane.

a twin standard output T5 might be a good fit.

 

[aqua_chem]

It depends on the fixture. Lower end fixtures probably wouldn't be an unreasonable amount of light.

 

[tottenham12712]

I purchased 2x25w 36" t5. It should give me just under 2 wpg. I plan on running a co2 injection setup. But I think for now Im just going to do a simple diy for a few weeks. But I dont want to deal with yeast and sugar forver lol so Ill be on the market for a co2 kit.

Thanks for everyones help

 

[aqua_chem]

First off, wpg is pretty much an entirely useless way to measure light. It's mostly used now by people who are set in their ways so hard that they refuse to update their way of thinking past the T8 days, and is insufficient to describe light in era of high output lighting.

Second, as far as 36" bulbs go, only T8 bulbs are 25w. Normal T5s are 21w, and T5HO are 39w. Are you sure that you have T5s?

 

[tottenham12712]

Apparently marineland says there 30w each so 60 total: http://www.marineland.com/uploadedFiles/Marineland/Products/SAST Double Bright Strip Lights.pdf

I bought the first 36" one, theres really not alot of info on these since they replaced there line with LEDs. Guess ill find out for sure when it comes tomorrow

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Apparently marineland says there 30w each so 60 total: http://www.marineland.com/uploadedFiles/Marineland/Products/SAST%20Double%20Bright%20Strip%20Lights.pdf

I bought the first 36" one, theres really not alot of info on these since they replaced there line with LEDs. Guess ill find out for sure when it comes tomorrow

You'll be able to grow all the plants you were able to grow with the 17w plus a few others. You may not have to add co2 to control algae with the new lights, though co2 is good anyway. Those aren't T5 lights but simply longer T8 fixtures. I've used similar setups in the past with great success.

Let us know what you think once it's on your tank.

 

[tottenham12712]

You'll be able to grow all the plants you were able to grow with the 17w plus a few others. You may not have to add co2 to control algae with the new lights, though co2 is good anyway. Those aren't T5 lights but simply longer T8 fixtures. I've used similar setups in the past with great success.

Let us know what you think once it's on your tank.

Thank you for the clarification

I actually just pieced together a 5lb tank with a regulator and needle valve. I want more plants than what I have, and Id like to have ones that add color rather than just green, as I understand it these plants need more light and co2 will help. Ill post pictures up once it comes.

 

[Parrisgg]

Not to steal this thread but I recently bought a t5 fixture for my 40 breeder. Do you guys think I need a t5ho?