I've been doing a lot of reading over the past few weeks, and boy has lighting changed since I got out of fishkeeping!
Specifically, I'm looking to light my upcoming 55 gallon aquarium. Originally, after doing some research, I had settled on Catalina Aquariums' single bulb T5HO fixture, but I'm now concerned this may be overkill and cause me all manner of problems unrelated to the fish I want to keep. My goal is to have an aquarium with plants, not an aquarium that is dedicated to those plants. I'd like to avoid CO2 and even Excel if I can manage it.
My specific plants are going to be an Amazon Sword as the showpiece with dwarf lillies kind of rounding out the "difficult" species. Throw in the usual java ferns, java moss, and anubias species and you get the idea. I'd also like to add in Brazilian Pennywort as a nitrate sponge. Nothing at all demanding or difficult if I've done my research.
So, I'm now stuck on this question. Should I pop by Home Depot and grab a two bulb shop light, or should I go with the T5HO?
Thanks in advance, guys!
Specifically, I'm looking to light my upcoming 55 gallon aquarium. Originally, after doing some research, I had settled on Catalina Aquariums' single bulb T5HO fixture, but I'm now concerned this may be overkill and cause me all manner of problems unrelated to the fish I want to keep. My goal is to have an aquarium with plants, not an aquarium that is dedicated to those plants. I'd like to avoid CO2 and even Excel if I can manage it.
My specific plants are going to be an Amazon Sword as the showpiece with dwarf lillies kind of rounding out the "difficult" species. Throw in the usual java ferns, java moss, and anubias species and you get the idea. I'd also like to add in Brazilian Pennywort as a nitrate sponge. Nothing at all demanding or difficult if I've done my research.
So, I'm now stuck on this question. Should I pop by Home Depot and grab a two bulb shop light, or should I go with the T5HO?
Thanks in advance, guys!
