150g lighting

[Calqless]

Hello, My 150g reseal is holding, (yay). As i want this to be a planted tank also, i have some questions bout lights. Will a Zoo Med AquaSun T-5 HO Double Light Linear Fluorescent Hood. But i dont know if this will be enought light especially since my tank is 48x30. Should i get more lights or different lights.

 

[Rivercats]

What is the height of the tank? I have a 220g 72x24x30" and have very high lighting. The lighting you buy will determine the type of plants you can grow so that being said what plants do you have in mind? Do you want low, medium, or high light? The higher the light the more variety of plants you can use. Also tho the higher the light the greater the need for CO2 or liquid carbon. You also have to factor in using dry ferts in a tank that size. The light you posted will be such low light very few plants will survive in it.

 

[Calqless]

I havent decided on plants yet, tho mostly anubuias, and crypts and various others honetsly tho that could all change. I have a CO2 setup that i will use. the tank itself is 30" tall, I was also looking 4Ft/4Bulbs fixture T5HO. Not sure on how the watt/gallon ratio works out, because i have a 36gBF with 28w and everything seems to be growing fine, my Gouramis eat enough of the plants to keep me from doing too much trimming but i still have to do some. but i might just have a lot of low light plants in there...

 

[Rivercats]

In a 30" tall tank even a 4 bulb T5HO isn't going to be much light. If you go T5HO you should at least get an 8 bulb fixture. I have a AquaticLife 4x 39w T5HO and 3x 150w Metal Halide combination. I also run a Build My LED fixture on the tank. But then I do high light plants. If you get a low light fixture and then decide you want higher light plants your going to end up spending even more money to upgrade. Since you have CO2 you should at least get something in the medium light range.

 

[Calqless]

well its moot, now, seems the tank started leakin within the last 2hrs. least it was outside. time to sell this one and look for a NEW one.