55gallon lighting.

[Piratechest]

I'm currently cycling my soon to be home to a pair of gold german rams, I want the tank fairly planted. My question is about the lighting and what plants I can grow in it. Currently I am running two 17w flor tubes, one on either hood, but I just ordered a 12ft 6500k led strip. Will this be sufficient to support any other plants besides low light?
Another question:
Will it be too bright for the rams?
One more question lol:
Anyone have any cheap diy co2 setup?
Thanks fish friends!


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[Mattyfelts]

a 12 foot long light strip?

 

[Piratechest]

A water proof led strip.


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[Piratechest]

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[BBradbury]

55 Gallon Tank Lighting

Hello Pir...

Lowe's has a 48 inch, two bulb shop light for about $20.00. Add a couple of 6500K, 32 watt, T8 bulbs for another $10.00 and you've got all the lighting you need for a planted tank. All that high end lighting and fertilizer is for the more demanding plants. A tank of easy to grow plants looks just as nice as the tank with demanding plants that require tricky CO2 systems and expensive lighting. The dark green, easy to grow plants need no ferts, other than what the fish provide and a couple of florescent bulbs.

There's no need to take out a second mortgage on your house to support your tank addiction.

B

 

[Piratechest]

I only payed roughly 21 dollars for the strip!
Would you say it could handle growing medium light plants aswell? Thanks for your reply.


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[Brookster123]

Oh B... you and your shop lights
Op- the strip light is purely decorational. . It may give off a bright appearance but I doubt it's going to benefit the plants much. Not all leds are created equal. If you're serious about having a nice low/med. Light tank? Grab a 48" finnex planted plus.. the rams will surely appreciate all the lush growth..

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[Mattyfelts]

I only payed roughly 21 dollars for the strip!
Would you say it could handle growing medium light plants aswell? Thanks for your reply.


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we would need a tonne more informaton about the strip before we could tell you anything. t8s and leds are extremely different

 

[Piratechest]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/270975018457?nav=SEARCH
Check it out for yourselves if you will!
5.5 lumens per led, and they have 19 led's per foot.


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[BBradbury]

Shop Lights

Oh B... you and your shop lights
Op- the strip light is purely decorational. . It may give off a bright appearance but I doubt it's going to benefit the plants much. Not all leds are created equal. If you're serious about having a nice low/med. Light tank? Grab a 48" finnex planted plus.. the rams will surely appreciate all the lush growth..

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Hi Brook...

Hey. Seriously. These are great lights for plants. $30.00 and you have all the light the plants need. The lights last well over a year, before they need to be replaced. What could be better if you want a big tank and a lot of plants and you can't justify spending a small fortune to have it.

I've got large six tanks full of plants and fish and use the shop lights to light them. If you're on a real tight budget and want what the guys with the deep pocket have, it can be done.

B

 

[Brookster123]

Hi Brook...

Hey. Seriously. These are great lights for plants. $30.00 and you have all the light the plants need. The lights last well over a year, before they need to be replaced. What could be better if you want a big tank and a lot of plants and you can't justify spending a small fortune to have it.

I've got large six tanks full of plants and fish and use the shop lights to light them. If you're on a real tight budget and want what the guys with the deep pocket have, it can be done.

B

No.... they're ok.. for very low light plants.. they're phasing out t8 lighting as well...
Op- they're worth a shot... start with lower light plants and work up??
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[Piratechest]

Will do! I'll keep you posted upon arrival and setup, aswell as mark progression here. Thanks for all of your held fishy folk!


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[Piratechest]

So i added the 12ft 6500k led strips in 7 days ago. One one side I've been running a t8 flour tube on top of the 6500k strip. On that side algae is forming in the sand. To much light? Opinions.


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[Delapool]

No.... they're ok.. for very low light plants.. they're phasing out t8 lighting as well...

What - oh, man. We just finally got them into Australia as well... Maybe not that bad but surprisingly T5's aren't very common near here.

 

[jetajockey]

Hi Brook...

Hey. Seriously. These are great lights for plants. $30.00 and you have all the light the plants need. The lights last well over a year, before they need to be replaced. What could be better if you want a big tank and a lot of plants and you can't justify spending a small fortune to have it.

I've got large six tanks full of plants and fish and use the shop lights to light them. If you're on a real tight budget and want what the guys with the deep pocket have, it can be done.

B

I just wanted to respond to this. I have T8 shop lights over 8 tanks currently. While they do serve well, in taller tanks they can be very limiting. (I use them over 15g tanks)

And 'expensive' lighting isn't all that much more, low end T5ho fixtures, take oddysea for example, is only $52 shipped and includes bulbs. A t8 shop light at home depot is going to cost around $20 plus another ~$10 for bulbs. Not a huge investment, and the difference is night and day regarding what can be done with the tank at this point.