I recently decided to try live plants. I have a 60 gallon hex that is 24" deep. I have a 3 bulb flourescent T8 fixture 15 watts per bulb. I just replaced the bulbs with 15 watt plant bulbs rated high in the red and blue spectrums which I did a lot of research on. I only want to keep low light plants, ( hornwort, java moss, watersprite, and a amazon sword even though I know it is not considered low light). My question is is that enough light or should I upgrade to something higher such as t5 or compact flourescent. Thanks for the help.
do i have enough light?
- Thread starter stewie
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It will probably be adequate to sustain some low light plants. You won't see a ton of growth. Being a deeper tank will make it a little bit more difficult.
Give it a try for awhile, see how it goes. If all you want is low light and low tech, I wouldn't rush out and pick up T5HOs. That could be a lot of money you spend that you may not need to to meet your needs.
Give it a try for awhile, see how it goes. If all you want is low light and low tech, I wouldn't rush out and pick up T5HOs. That could be a lot of money you spend that you may not need to to meet your needs.
BigJim
Aquarium Advice Addict
The hornwort and java moss should do fine. The water sprite and amazon sword may suffer though. As fort said, a deep tank is difficult to light well because you need powerful lights to penetrate to the bottom.
Water sprite needs decent light and a good nitrate source to flourish. Mine actually does better in a heavily stocked tank with lower light than it does in tanks with fewer fish and more light.
If you can find some taller swords, you'll be ok. If the sword leaves are closer to the light and the roots have access to some root tabs, I think you'll see some decent growth.
Water sprite needs decent light and a good nitrate source to flourish. Mine actually does better in a heavily stocked tank with lower light than it does in tanks with fewer fish and more light.
If you can find some taller swords, you'll be ok. If the sword leaves are closer to the light and the roots have access to some root tabs, I think you'll see some decent growth.
Thanks for the help. I just found a T5 flourescent light that would fit my tank. Its a 2 bulb fixture with one 6500k bulb and one pink bulb that is supposed to be for plants, its 36 watts total. Would this be an improvement over what i have now? Also does anyone know what the comparison is between standard flourescent and T5 is? as far as wattage goes, I have heard T5 is almost twice as bright as standard flourescent with same wattage.Thanks again.
BigJim
Aquarium Advice Addict
Is it a T5 or a T5HO fixture?
T5HO puts out a much brighter, more intense light that penetrates deeper into the tank. T5 is just a normal fluorescent.
T5HO puts out a much brighter, more intense light that penetrates deeper into the tank. T5 is just a normal fluorescent.
The calculation I have heard thrown around is figure about 1.5 times as powerful, so 36W of T5HO is equivalent to 54W of T8.
I don't think you would see a huge improvement with that fixture vs. the 3 bulb T8 you are running, especially for the price you will pay. If you are going to upgrade, I would consider a 4 bulb T5HO. You could run an actinic in one of the slots, which would add a nice blue color to the tank but not provide extra light, so you would be running 54W of usable light. If you decide you want to upgrade later on you have room for expansion and can put in another grow bulb, bumping you up to medium/medium high light.
I don't think you would see a huge improvement with that fixture vs. the 3 bulb T8 you are running, especially for the price you will pay. If you are going to upgrade, I would consider a 4 bulb T5HO. You could run an actinic in one of the slots, which would add a nice blue color to the tank but not provide extra light, so you would be running 54W of usable light. If you decide you want to upgrade later on you have room for expansion and can put in another grow bulb, bumping you up to medium/medium high light.
