Best lighting fixture for a future 29 gallon heavily planted tank.

[Jmenehan2]

This is what it looks like as of now. It is a t5 HO fixture. Have you ever had problems with the fixture itself rusting? No protective tubing came with this fixture so I am a little concerned. The EnviroGro website says nothing about their products being used in aquascape. The tank is a 29 gallon, am I going to have too much light with the fixture sitting like this?

 

[Rivercats]

I've never had rusting problems but all mine come on legs. That one almost looks like it's meant to sit on a lid.

That is alot of light so be sure to only run it 6 hours a day, plant the tank very heavily, use CO2 or liquid carbon, and dry ferts would be best. The higher the light the more need for CO2/liquid carbon and good fert dosing.

 

[aqua_chem]

I've always just had mine sitting on the tank. You might wipe down the exposed parts once in a while to remove any accumulation of stuff, but remember that many of the precautions with lighting equipment can be traced back to reef setups, which tend to me much higher end equipment and a much more corrosive environment than FW people tend to use.

 

[Jmenehan2]

I've never had rusting problems but all mine come on legs. That one almost looks like it's meant to sit on a lid.

That is alot of light so be sure to only run it 6 hours a day, plant the tank very heavily, use CO2 or liquid carbon, and dry ferts would be best. The higher the light the more need for CO2/liquid carbon and good fert dosing.

How high could I hang the fixture without taking too much light from the plants? I don't want my fixture to be ruined because it says to avoid direct contact with moisture. If I could hang the light it would be cool to let some plants grow out and possibly bloom.

 

[Rivercats]

I don't hang any of my lights over my planted tanks. I only hung lights over my reef tanks. My lights are approximately 4 inches or so above the water line.

 

[Jmenehan2]

I don't hang any of my lights over my planted tanks. I only hung lights over my reef tanks. My lights are approximately 4 inches or so above the water line.

With my light being 96 watts from 4 T5 HOs would it be less effective hung above the tank like 4-6 inches? I want to be able to grow a nice carpeted substrate so I'm not sure what I should do.

 

[Rivercats]

IMO that much light over a 29g is alot of light. Hanging it won't hurt IMO. AquaChem posted the link to an article about lighting and par. I'll see if I can find it and post it unless he pops on. The article might help you decide where your light needs to be.

 

[aqua_chem]

Lighting an Aquarium with PAR instead of Watts