Lighting a 55g

[Aqualady40]

I am looking into upgrading my 55g T8 shop light. I want the light to put me in med-high. I currently been dosing tank well over 1 year now. I dose dry ferts and glut, daily as instructed by Rivercats. Plants are doing well, it just time to get them a better light. The distance from top of substrate to top or water level is 16 inches and my current shop light sits pretty close, 2.5 inches from top of water. So, I would like help with finding an inexpensive good 48" light fixture that will get me in HIGH MEDIUM-HIGH range. Please provide a link to the exact fixture you suggest, thanks for your time.

 

[fort384]

The fishneedit.com come fixtures are economical.

T5-HO Light

A dual t5ho fixture would put you at medium light. The 4 bulb fixture would be very high light. You could run 3 6500-10000K bulbs, and 1 actinic bulb to reduce that down to medium-high.

 

[molly100a]

t5ho

I just got this one for my 75 gallon, so far so good. It is the cheapest I could find. It does not have individual reflectors but the one they use seems pretty good for the money.

 

[fort384]

Individual reflectors have a pretty large affect on total PAR at the substrate. I'd recommend something that is individually reflected if you are looking to get into the medium-high range, especially on a tank as deep as a 55.

 

[Aqualady40]

The fishneedit.com come fixtures are economical.

T5-HO Light

A dual t5ho fixture would put you at medium light. The 4 bulb fixture would be very high light. You could run 3 6500-10000K bulbs, and 1 actinic bulb to reduce that down to medium-high.

If i got the dual fixture, do I need to get 1 10000k and 1 blue? Or both the white 10000k

 

[fort384]

Both white.