T5ho lighting 90 gal. 24" deep

[Philly33]

How many bulbs will I need to put me at high light? I want to have carpeting plants at a 24" depth. Thanks in advance

 

[Mijo51380]

Just wanted to see what everyone thinks

 

[Dallascowboys16]

A three or four bulb fixture would put you at very highlight. What carpeting plants are you wanting as most need co2 and a good dry fert dosing regime...

 

[Philly33]

Glossostigma n HC. I'm dosing dry ferts EI and I have co2

 

[Mijo51380]

Wouldn't that much light cause bba problems.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Ok 3 bulbs should work. BBA will be prevented through proper fertilization and co2.

 

[Rivercats]

That is a deeper tank and you need to find the link with Par values. I have a 55g with a 2 bulb T5HO fixture with Geisemann bulbs and I get a strong medium light using those bulbs. I can grow all but high light carpet plants and the tank is 17 or 18" tall. My 220g tank is 30" deep and I have to use a combination of T5HO's and Metal Halides in order to get high/very high lighting deep in the tank. So 4 T5HO bulbs might get you into high light. The deeper the tank the lower the par value is at the bottom of the tank so you need to know the par value. I don't have the link but people are often posting a link to a graph that shows all different par levels for various bulbs at different tank depths. That's what you need to see before getting a fixture.

 

[Philly33]

I've just started co2 n dry ferts (2 weeks). I currently have 4 bulbs running. I'm patiently waiting for Ecoxotics to introduce their new fixture in Jan 2014. A rep claims their 48" led fixture can reach par 60 at 30" deep.

 

[Rivercats]

I use Build My Led fixtures on 4 tanks. They have higher par levels which are on their site. They also have different beam angles you can get. The tighter the beam angle the higher the par is in deeper tanks. On the two deeper tanks I have a beam angle of 75%. Plus they have a dimmer you can buy that allows you to use light from 10-100% which is really nice. The only thing about Led's is that are larger tanks you often need 2 fixtures to cover the tan from front to back with high light. The light par is highest right under the fixture and lessens as it reaches out further in the tank away from the light. That's why I went with a 75% beam angle instead of 90%.

 

[Philly33]

I'm aware of BML and was ready to order until I contacted Ecoxotics. They are integrating the same as BML with more bells n whistles. Just trying to get by with what I have. Once I get new LEDs I'll be having a sale. I have everything to start another 90gal that I'll be selling.

 

[Rivercats]

I'll have to check those fixtures out!