Light Help

[Rhino]

I just got a 40 breeder tank on Sunday and now I need a light fixture for the tank. I really have no clue as to which one to get. I have looked at so many. I really don't have any special lighting requirement. Although, I have toyed with the idea of actually having live plants in this tank, however, I am still unsure if I am ready to embark on that endeavor. So for now I just need a suggestions as to which light fixture to get. I like my tank well lit so maybe something with two bulbs? I also like the marineland double bright led systems. I am hesitant though that they will not be bright enough. Anyone have any experience with these? Help me please I plan to order all necessary supplies so that I can start cycling the tank by this weekend hopefully.

 

[Jesse18]

The marineland LED light set is realy nice i have it on my 55g the moon lights are cool to that it comes with

 

[fort384]

Lots of folks have moved to LED lighting, and it can be quite effective for growing plants, depending on the type and quantities of LEDs.

Personally, for a 40b I would go with a fishneedit.com double T5HO fixture if you think you are going to go with plants. This would give you a lot of live plant options up to about medium light, and would be plenty bright, at a really decent price. Lighting is generally about the most pricey piece of a FW planted setup, depending on how sophisticated you want to make it. The FNI fixure I referenced is a nice compromise between utility and price.

 

[Rhino]

Seems like all fixtures are expensive.

 

[BillD]

Since the 40 breeder is a shallow tank, a T8 shoplight will grow lots of plants and will light it nicely, for $15 + $8 for tubes.

 

[jetajockey]

If you are trying to keep it cheap you could get an oddysea fixture from ebay, they have 2x54w ones for 60ish dollars shipped. Definitely not as high quality as some of the others but it works and gets decent reviews.

The 40b is a very shallow tank so it doesn't take a ton of light to get good plant growth.

 

[fort384]

T8s aren't a bad choice, as Bill pointed out. I prefer T5HOs, but the T8s while not as powerful, are much, much more economical and will grow a good assortment of live plants. The odyssea fixtures took a bad wrap a few years ago for overheating, but I think they have since corrected the issues and are now even UL listed, so also a good option for value.

 

[jetajockey]

I use a lot of t8 shop lights and I really don't like them for planted tanks. They get the job done but I don't really see any real growth unless I'm using more intense lights and ferts.

 

[fort384]

I agree for anything above low light plants. The difference in growth is dramatic between t8s and t5hos, especially for medium light stem plants and any foreground plants.

 

[Rhino]

If you are trying to keep it cheap you could get an oddysea fixture from ebay, they have 2x54w ones for 60ish dollars shipped. Definitely not as high quality as some of the others but it works and gets decent reviews.

The 40b is a very shallow tank so it doesn't take a ton of light to get good plant growth.

Odysea fixtures seem awesome for the price and what I need.

 

[Rhino]

Should I get the 4 bulb with led for $79 or the two bulb no night led for $45?

 

[jetajockey]

it's up to you. If you do use the 4 bulb you probably won't want to use all 4 at once and just use 2 at a time, i *think* that the fixture has multiple switches on it but you might want to double check. Running all 4 at once would be extreme and probably cause major algae problems.

 

[Rhino]

So upon further review the odyssea lights are surrounded by controversy...not sure if I want to take the risk

 

[Rhino]

Also I am planning on putting a canopy on so heat may be an issue. What do you all think about the coralife, aquaticlife, glo, nova extreme, or aquasun?