How to buy lighting for 55 gallon tank?

[sjr.10]

Hello! I have no idea how to decide what lights to buy for my 55 gallon tank. Right now it just has the original lights that came with the tank, and they are not working at all for my plants. So I am looking to buy new lights, but I have no idea where to look or what to look for. What do you use in your tank? Thanks!

 

[tiger terror]

t5 ho lighting probably your best bet at 6500k..go on Amazon or EBAY excellent deals there..

 

[tiger terror]

My 75g planted monster SA tank

 

[rkilling1]

The type and amount all depends on what you want to do with the tank.

 

[sjr.10]

The type and amount all depends on what you want to do with the tank.

I love this tank- 55 Gallon Freshwater Planted Community Aquarium 2011 - YouTube and would like to try something like that.

 

[hpiguy]

55 Planted tanks can do very well on just a set of cheap four foot shop lights with good plant bulbs you can buy online or in some pet stores.

Get all glass lids so the light can penetrate and then set one shoplight or two if you really want bright light on the top. With two shoplights and a mix of different wave length bulbs you'll end up with about 3 watts per gallon which isn't too bad.

You'll have strong lighting for around a $50 investment.

It worked for me for a long time. Most plants had no issues. Only the ones that require very intense lighting would have had problems, but I didn't get those.

 

[sjr.10]

55 Planted tanks can do very well on just a set of cheap four foot shop lights with good plant bulbs you can buy online or in some pet stores.

Get all glass lids so the light can penetrate and then set one shoplight or two if you really want bright light on the top. With two shoplights and a mix of different wave length bulbs you'll end up with about 3 watts per gallon which isn't too bad.

You'll have strong lighting for around a $50 investment.

It worked for me for a long time. Most plants had no issues. Only the ones that require very intense lighting would have had problems, but I didn't get those.

Thank you.. so will I be needing a whole new hood or do I just replace the light bulbs? Sorry- I have no idea what all this means lol. Could you direct me to a site to buy all of it?

 

[sjr.10]

Right now I have 2 "aqueon 8000k full spectrum daylight 15w 120v 18" bulbs.

 

[hpiguy]

Thank you.. so will I be needing a whole new hood or do I just replace the light bulbs? Sorry- I have no idea what all this means lol. Could you direct me to a site to buy all of it?

To clarify, to get a tank like the one you posted right before I answered may not be possible with just some shoplights. According to that guy her uses "2 x T5 Nova Extreme Lighting Strips with 10k daylight and plant growth bulbs"

What I talking about is a nice healthy planted tank using most of the plants you can buy at pet stores and on places like Ebay. Shop lights with grow bulbs never failed me.

These are the types of shop lights I'm talking about, and you can find the lights cheaper locally, about ten bucks each at Menards in the midwest.

All Season 4 Ft. 2 Light T8 Fluorescent Shop Light-1242ZG RE at The Home Depot

Bulbs like such or any bulb made for plant growth, also can be found at Walmart: T8 Fluorescent Aquarium Lamps: Aqueon Floramax Plant Growth Fluorescent Lamp

Glass tops like this: Aquarium Hoods & Canopies: All-Glass Versa-Tops

Using this inexpensive stuff has never failed me.

 

[sjr.10]

So will I need a whole new hood enclosure?

 

[hpiguy]

The glass tops would be your new tank covers. They would replace the plastic ones you have now so the light can shine through them.

 

[sjr.10]

Thanks. So for shop lights do they hang from the ceiling over the tank or how does that work?

I was looking on ebay and found this .. T5 Dual 48" HO Aquarium Light Strip Cichlid Marine Tropical Fish 108W 55g 2 Bulb | eBay which doesn't seem to be a bad deal- What do you think?

The glass tops would be your new tank covers. They would replace the plastic ones you have now so the light can shine through them.

 

[hpiguy]

The cheap shop lights just lay on the glass tops.

The lights you show look fine, but those are T5, regular bulbs won't work, make sure you buy T5 bulbs. I see that seller has some fixtures with 6500K color bulbs, those would be better. Just make sure they are new lights and have a good warranty and such. Shipping a light fixture back for repairs would suck. You'll have to check out the seller and see if they are a good one.

They look attractive for the price, that's for sure. They even sell quad bulb fixtures for high light plants.

 

[sjr.10]

I think I will just stick with the shop lights. So, here is my understanding.. I will get a glass canopy like you said. Then 2 shop lights, one with the 32 watt bulbs and the other set with plant growth bulbs? Or mix them up- one 32 watt and one plant light in each set? Do the glass covers work pretty well so the lights don't get wet? I'm sorry for all the questions.

 

[hpiguy]

You can mix them up if you wish so that you get a nice balance of color for viewing.

The glass lids won't let any water through. They will come with a clear back strip that you can cut to fit perfectly around your pumps, wires and such thats coming out of the back of the tank, just like the plastic hoods did.