T5 lighting question <--- noob

[lee_0082]

So I had aquariums as a kid, and I'm recently back into them as of around Christmas, and planted tanks are definitely something that interest me. I have a marineland 60 gallon wide tank and I'm trying to figure out what kind of lighting would be best for me. For now I've just replaced the stock bulbs with 6500 k bulbs but being that there is only one strip each on each hood,
I'm definitely thinking this isn't going to be enough.

Currently I do have low light plants such as anubias, java fern, java moss, and ludwigia (not really a low light) and they are doing ok, but I want to expand with a much better light. I definitely want to stick with something that isn't ridiculously expensive, and I'm kind of set on having moonlights as well.

So my question for you is, I've narrowed it down to maybe 2 hoods, and I'm wondering if these are good options

Odyssea T5 High Output Lighting

Odyssea T5 High Output Lighting

any advice is definitely welcome!

 

[tyspot1000]

The 108 watt should do. If you really want some light, then go for the 216 watt. Oh, just a side note: Since you are going to have so many watts on your tank, you will be exepting some major algae problems in the future (The algae can be prevented from either getting a C02 system or dosing with Seachem Flourish execl once a day).

 

[lee_0082]

CO2 is definitely going to happen in the future, but just maybe a little further down the road. It's funny how expensive this is all getting, but I love it so much that I absolutely don't mind whatsover. I need to look into the seachem, I wonder if it would be ok to use that everyday with angelfish, or I guess the water changes would help with that.

One more question as well. I'd probably go for the higher light one, because I assume that if I didn't want that much light I could just unscrew a couple of the bulbs until I needed them. But with all 4, would that put me in the medium level of light or higher?

 

[tyspot1000]

That would put you at a high light level no doubt about it. Your looking about 3.6 watts per gallon.

The Seachem Excel should be fine with any fish really, just dont overdose.

 

[lee_0082]

Awesome! Thanks so much for your time!