low-medium light rig help

[FishN00b83]

I am looking to grow some Dwarf Hairgrass (Eleocharis sp. "Belem"), Vals (Italian or Jungle), Cryps maybe Green and Bronze C. Wendtii, Sagittaria Subulata, and a moss maybe some Peacock moss. I am being told that all these are low-medium light plants, so I'm looking to get a lighting rig, but I'm really clueless with this stuff. I would like to have a duel light fixture and have a day tube and a night tube, on a timer if possible. Can anyone help me out?

 

[fort384]

Dhg is closer to high light than medium light.

What size tank?

 

[FishN00b83]

I have a 40g breeder tank

 

[fort384]

A dual t5ho fixture would work well, both with bulbs in the 6500-10000k range. You could either buy a fixture with moonlighting built in or retrofit a couple LEDs into a cheaper fixture. Either way you will want it on a timer if you intend to keep live plants.

Http://www.fishneedit.com have some excellent economically priced t5ho fixtures.

 

[FishN00b83]

I thought the HO fixtures would be too much for the rest of the plants? Im sorry I'm really new to this lighting stuff.

 

[fort384]

No such thing as too much for the other plants. I have grown java fern and anubias under 4+ WPG of T5HO and it grew wonderfully.

 

[FishN00b83]

and algue wont be a problem?

 

[fort384]

That depends on a lot of other factors. But algae will be easily manageable with a 2X T5HO on a 40b.

 

[FishN00b83]

Glo T5 Duel HO Linear Fixture good? What else would I need?

 

[fort384]

Not sure on that fixture. Never used one. If it is dual t5ho you should be fine. You shouldn't need anything else lighting wise.

 

[FishN00b83]

and should I get the fixtures the length of my tank?

 

[fort384]

Yes, absolutely.

 

[FishN00b83]

I'm gonna have to read a bit more on this before I start buying. Thanks for the help!

 

[FishN00b83]

PAR vs Distance, T5, T12, PC - Updated Again Charts

From this post, the second graph says that one T5HO lamp would be considered medium light for a 16" high tank if it was 4" above the top of the tank. So would this mean I would only need a single T5HO light for the scape im going for?

 

[fort384]

I think you might have trouble getting dhg to thrive under a single t5ho. Low, medium, high light, it's all subjective. PAR is a good metric, but not the only determining factor.

 

[FishN00b83]

Well, if I got a duel T5HO fixture, how high would I need to put it to get the right amount of light?

would I need to worry about the light not getting spread to the whole tank?

 

[fort384]

With a 2 bulb fixture, you can use the legs that come with most fixtures that will put it about 3-4 in off the surface. You could also just lay it on top of the glass, if you have a glass top. There are also mounting kits to suspend the lights from the ceiling should you want to go that route. Even if you lay it directly o. The top of the tank, if the fixture has even mediocre reflectors (most t5ho fixtures have individual decent reflectors for each bulb) you will get full coverage. Florescent bulbs, when properly reflected, are the best source for diffused lighting of an entire tank. MH and LED lighting is great, but you have to be much more mindful of "hot spots" with these types.

 

[FishN00b83]

Well going by that chart, a duel fixture 4" above the top would be high light, now with that wouldnt I need to start thinking about CO2?

 

[fort384]

If you go by that chart, yes. My own personal experience would call that medium light, without a requirement for co2. Like I said, high, medium, low -- it's subjective. We try to inject as much objectivity and science in as we can, but it is subjective.