New to plants

[fishguy04]

So I've upgraded my tank from a 46g to a 72g and I was curious on what kind of lighting I should use for my plants. I'm keeping it simple with an amazon sword, dwarf hair grass and a crypt. As of right now I'm using a Aquatic Life T5-HO Freshwater - 2 x 39 W - 36" with 1x6000k and 1x650nm roseate. I want to get a 48" fixture and just wanted to know what kind and what intensity the bulbs should be. Thank you for the advice

 

[Mebbid]

Well, dwarf hairgrass needs quite high lighting. I would suggest that you go with 4x t5ho bulbs to get it. I tried to grow it with 2 t5ho over my 55g and it just didn't work. I had the plant for about 4 months and it didn't grow at all.

 

[fishguy04]

What kind of bulbs should I use if I go with 4 t5ho?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Although DHG will grow better (faster?) with high light, moderate lighting will do just fine. I would, however, add co2 to the mix to get it growing well. Having a decent planted substrate is also beneficial -- something like eco complete or floramax. I've carpeted in DHG (e. parvula) with only (30 to 40 PAR) 'medium lighting' w/ co2 and micro/macro nutrient dosing. Less light, but enough to grow what you intend to grow, means less co2, less ferts, and less chance of algae.

For bulbs in a t5ho, definitely go for the giesemann midday bulbs. They're on the higher end of pricing but are renown for being the best. Aquaticlife fixtures are known to have very good reflectors, so you might be able to get by with a dual bulb. Someone can hopefully confirm this because I haven't used them personally. Might want to research that before getting more light than what you need, otherwise you'll be fighting an uphill battle with algae and struggling to find a balance -- which gets increasingly more difficult with high intensity lighting.

I find these charts helpful in trying to estimate the light intensity you'll have. Some require to multiply PAR by the number of bulbs your fixture has (keeping reflector quality in mind too).
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1038305#post1038305