Will this light fixture work?

[WizardHowl]

Hey guys,
I have a new update on my tank and I wanted to make a new thread.
A friend is selling a :

48" Coralife 260 watt PC light w/ moonlights


for a really good price. He used to do a salt water tank. Would these lights be sufficient to do a decent plant tank? Is it too much wattage? Since I'm getting it for so cheap I might actually be able to get a CO2 reactor, if I absolutely have to have this, what would you guys suggest? I will be getting a 55 gal tank.

Also, what would a relatively decent bed be for plants? I don't have to have the best plants, but I'd like decent ones that don't take TOO much work (aka fertilizing or dosing everyday).

 

[travis simonson]

OK 260w is more than sufficient for a 55G. Problems occur when you try to grow plant under such bright light without CO2 supplementation. You should certainly consider pressurized CO2 for a tank of that size.

 

[JustOneMore20]

If you don't want to use CO2, then see about getting a 130w Coralife fixture instead. I have it and didn't use CO2 for awhile. I recently hooked up a Red Sea Turbo CO2 thing (pretty much DIY), but only used Flourish Excel as a Carbon source for a while. It will allow you a good selection of plants. I'd use alot of fast growing stem plants to out compete the algae.

Do you know if the fixture has 2 switches? If so, you can only use half of the light and not have to have CO2. If you have to use all of it, then I'd get CO2, as you'll have over 4 watts per gallon....thats just asking for algae IMO.

As for substrate....really its up to you and how much you want to spend. I love Eco-Complete. It is black, contains alot of nutrients for plants, and it is sand-like. Really though, as long as you fertilize, you can use small pea gravel (~2-3mm in size) or pool filter sand. Other plant substrates are Flourite and Aquasoil. There are many others, but I can't remember them all...

 

[Buffalo Bill]

That light is the same one I have for my 55 gal. Ive had this running for about one year now with no allege problems and no co2 whatsoever I'm very happy with it. My coralife has 2 1000k bulbs and 2 actinic bulbs. Also If you find yourself having to much light they have 3 light switches one for the moonlights one for the 1000k and one for the actings so you choose which ones you want on.
Now that I want to grow plants better I have the option of changing out the actings for plant spectrum bulbs and I'm doing just that. So down the road you will be happier for choosing this light as it can grow with you. Also I currently run mine for about 10 hours a day, I've found out that I only start to have allege troubles when I run it for about 11-12 hours.

 

[Purrbox]

Running a fixture with half actinic bulbs is nearly the same as only turning on half of the bulbs. Actinic light is nearly useless to plants, so it doesn't count toward your total lighting level.

 

[WizardHowl]

So my WPG really won't be 4 right"?

Two will be actnic lights so those are usueless,
the other will be 65 watt bulbs i think that are 10000k?

I'm buying the light fixture used from someone for cheap, at least I think it is cheap. Would you consider 80 dollars cheap if its' around 6 months old?

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Actinic bulbs give the tank a very cool blue look when combined with the 10,000k bulbs I definetly would recommend it but as purrbox stated it is not calculated in wpg for plants(this is probably why I don't have algae problems). Now that my pressurized co2 system is arriving next week I have the capability of changing those out and replacing them with lights that the plants can use

 

[JustOneMore20]

$80 for that fixture is a heck of a deal. Drs Foster and Smith sells it for $240.

Since the acitinic lights are useless....I'd just turn on the 10000K bulbs. Then later on if you decide to add pressurized CO2, you can just replace the acitinic bules for 6700K or 10000K bulbs.

 

[Purrbox]

The refurbished comparable Current Fixture runs $130, so I would say that it's an excellant deal if the fixture is in good condition and there's still a fair amount of life in the bulbs left.

You can go ahead and run the Actinics if you want. Some people have noted no affect at all, while others have noted that they seem to promote bushier growth in the plants. Of course if you leave them off it will help some with the electric bill.

 

[WizardHowl]

sounds great!
So as of now I shouldn't need CO2 with the two 10,000k PC's and two actinics, however if i do switch the actinics out I should need them right? How much does pressurized CO2 cost to run?

 

[Purrbox]

Presurized CO2 costs depends largely on how much you peice together yourself and how many of the bells and whistles you spring for. A barebones unit with regulator, needle valve, CO2 Cylindar, and diffuser could be pieced together for as little as $100-$150. Something with all the extras and no DIY could easily run you $400+. Fortunately the initial setup is the worst part of the cost, and you'll only be looking at about $15 each time you need to refill you CO2 Cylindar. Which could be anywhere from every 6-18 months depending on the size of your tank how much CO2 inject into it.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

For $80 bucks it seems you found a good deal. You should keep in mind that the bulbs(4 total) can run between $20 to 35$ each depending on the place you purchase them from(I'm not sure but I believe they should be replaced every 1.5 years). There are many options you can choose from 1)10,000k only
2)actinic only
3)50/50 half 10,000k the other half actinic
4)6,700k only
I've run into some problems with my plants not doing well and some have died altogether... this is why I'm a newbie trying to learn from the experts here. From what I've gathered my lfs gravel was useless for plants (no nutrient value) strike one. Second I wasn't dosing fertilizers (and with no nutrients in the gravel, well I think you get the picture). Third the plants would have benefited from extra co2 injection.
So now I've changed out the substrate and I have started dosing fertilizers (which I'm still trying to get a handle on). And then I figured what the hell..lets add the co2 as well.