55Gal w/ Amazon Swords and Cichlids....

[OscarPlus12]

Ok so tonight i just said the heck with it and i wanted my swords to grow more so i have been adding liquid food and some sort of pebble like thing to the roots... I went to lowes tonight and bought a new fluorescent light its a 2 ballast 32 watts for each ballast... So i bought 2 T8 32 daylight bulbs rated at 6500 color temp, and 2700 light output... i think 64 was would be good but i did one even better lol... I put my old 48in with 40 watts 9325 color temp and 1600 light output... so thats a total of 22325 color temp 104 watts and 7000 lums...

Please tell me that sounds good for a 55 gal tank and 3 T8 bulbs...

Let me know if the tank looks bright enough to you....

 

[BigJim]

That should be plenty of light for your swords.

 

[OscarPlus12]

thanks bigjim i have already noticed new growth on the swords since last night... anything els i can do to make them grow just like a grand mother amazon sword???

 

[ChizerBunoi]

Sure why not. Just keep monitoring your plant growth and as the leaves change color, do some research. You will quickly what deficiency it has and what it will require.

FYI, you don't add the color temperatures up like that. If a bulb is 6500K then it stays that way. You supplement additional bulb temperatures to get more of a range. If you added another 10,000K bulb, then you just add more temperatures in that range. But, the total spectrum does not increase to 16,000K. Make sense?

 

[Averageprodigy]

If you're buying brand new lights you shouldnt have bought t8s that's like going to best buy to get a cassette player... T5s are the standard now or you could do some high output CFL bulbs all of which will give you more lighting in less space for less monthly cost...

 

[ChizerBunoi]

I don't agree. I think T5 and T8 are the same except for the reflector. One T5HO can be achieved with two regular T8 bulbs using a Miro reflector. There is lots of research using PAR tests and the T8s perform really well. It's depend on your reflector.

 

[Averageprodigy]

Didn't you just make my point for me... Two T8s are indeed equal to the light output of one T5 except that the T5 is half the size and uses half the energy so in the space that you put two of those T8s you could have four T5s and you'll double your output for the exact same monthly bill.

And don't get too comfortable with them because we're literally at the tipping point for the LED revolution and then T5s will be old news

 

[ChizerBunoi]

T5 regular is not the same as T5HO. 2 T8s will give the same output as 1 T5HO assuming it is using the same reflector. You would need to squeeze in 3 - 4 T5 regular to get the same effect. That would not equal the same monthly bill, and will still take up more space above the tank. One ballast driving 4 lights does not power up the same as 1 ballast driving 1 or 2 lights.