upgrading lighting...please help!

[happygirl65]

OK, so the 55 is full, I have gotten some excellent advice here and was going with very low light via the stock hood.

Now I have decided that I would like to upgrade that right at the start so I can have more plant options.

I still want medium/low plants. The hood I am looking at is a 2x65 w power compact (48" to go over my 55 gal acrylic show tank).

Would this amount of lighting be considered low or med?

I dont want to do CO2 at this time but dont mind regular maintenance as far as pruning and ferts, just need to read more on the specifics for the plants I choose.

I want to put about 10 stem plants in my tank and get it going asap.

I am looking at the fixtures on ebay and they look great. They are reasonably priced, I just need to know if this is the right light level for my 55 gal and which bulbs to choose and whether to add the moonlights or not.

TIA, your advice is always SO helpful! My tank already looks so much better than it would have if I had not found this board and I dont even have fish or plants yet!

 

[rich311k]

That will give you 2.36 wpg. Which is solidly in medium lighting. With the added boost from the PC bulbs you nay need CO2, your plants and the algae will lets you know. One 96 watt pc fixture might serve your needs better. A bulb anywhere from 4500k to 15,000k will serve your plants well. the color is up to what you like. I like 10,000k bulbs.

 

[happygirl65]

How about a fixture that says:
CL 48" Aquarium T-5 Dual Strip Light 72W (it has two 36w bulbs; would that be enough to let medium low plants thrive without the need for CO2?

I am having trouble finding a hood that is 1x 96.

 

[rich311k]

There is another option I should have mentioned You could do the 135 watt fixture and get one 50/50 bulb that would give you 97.5 effective watts. If you ever want to go higher you could just switch out the bulb. i think that combo would give you enough light to grow a nice variety of plants without the CO2 worry, and if you ever want to push it more you could just switch out the bulb. The 72 watt will limit you and there is no upgrade path at all.

 

[rkilling1]

That will give you 2.36 wpg. Which is solidly in medium lighting. With the added boost from the PC bulbs you nay need CO2, your plants and the algae will lets you know. One 96 watt pc fixture might serve your needs better. A bulb anywhere from 4500k to 15,000k will serve your plants well. the color is up to what you like. I like 10,000k bulbs.

Just to reiterate what rich is saying, due to using a CF bulb, having 2.36 WPG is effictively 3.2 WPG of NO T-12's so you would need CO2.

here is a good article:

http://woo.gotdns.com/Aquarium/Lighting.htm

 

[happygirl65]

That was a GREAT article THANK YOU!

I think with that information we can build a DIY Hood to get exactly what we need for WAY less money.

Thanks again!

 

[JustOneMore20]

I have a 2x65w CF fixture over my 55g and I don't have CO2 (well, currently experimenting with DIY, but I don't "need" it). But, I have a ton of plants....and about 1/3 of the plants in my tank are some type of Hygro (very fast growing)....so I'm guessing thats why I don't have much algae.

If you get that fixture you wouldn't have to have CO2, but you'd need to pack the tank full of plants to avoid a huge algae mess. I didn't add quite enough plants to my 55g when I got my 2x65 fixture and I battled algae for a few months.

The 72w fixture would be ok...you'd be low light and limited on which plants would do well.

If you have access to alot of stem plants, like some types of Hygro, Bacopa, Ludwigia, Moneywort, and the like, then go with the 130w fixture and just get alot of stems. You could put in a 50/50 bulb, and that would lower the watts per gallon, but the 2x65w bulbs are length wise and that would allow you to grow some plants really well on one side, and not so well on the other....but if it helps prevent algae, maybe that would be a good idea.

 

[plecoperson]

It's kinda eerie; I'm upping from a 55 to a 75, and wanting a little more light and no C02, and all of a sudden these threads are popping up on AA. DREAMY!!!

I'm not entirely stupid, and I do research like mad, but the part of my brain that understands aquarium lighting seems to be missing. So I need these threads to tell me exactly what to do, and what will happen if I do so.

This is me trying to sort out lighting by myself:

Thank you!!

 

[happygirl65]

OK I am pretty sure I am getting the 2x65 and putting both of them as 50/50 bulbs....does that sound right? If the 50/50 wont let things grow well, will this cause an algae problem as well? Or do I just need to stick to low light plants?

As far as packing it "full of plants" how many is that? Is there a rule of thumb. I dont really want it to be a complete jungle.

I read somewhere that one plant per five gallons of water is a good ratio...does that sound right? 11 plants in a 55gal, that doesnt sound packed to me and is about what I had pictured in my mind when I decided to go with live plants, but I guess it depends on how big they are.

And why is it that more plants will decrease the algae? (Probably a dumb question but I am new to this.) Would it be better to just get some snails to eat the algae or would it just be out of control no matter what...with less plants I mean.

If I am to examine why I want plants in the first place; I know that I love the look and prefer the natural to the plastic by far. I also like the idea of the overall improvement to the environment for my fish. Then finding out that the plants reduce amonia levels greatly just made me jump for joy.

But now with all the lighting choices and apparent algae problems if everything is not "just right" I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Then the guy selling the light I want (on ebay) says I should take hte 2x65 with 50/50 bulbs and as long as the tank has plenty of circulation I will never have an algae problem. He said that as long as there is enough water movement it would be fine without co2 etc. Is that correct info?

I feel all bug eyed about this too! LOL
THanks

 

[JustOneMore20]

And why is it that more plants will decrease the algae?

Plants and algae take in the same nutrients. If the conditions are right for algae (lots of light, lots of nutrients) but there are alot of plants to use the nutrients, they outcompete the algae and it has nothing to feed it.

As far as packing it "full of plants" how many is that? Is there a rule of thumb. I dont really want it to be a complete jungle.

Well when I think of full of plants, I think of alot. Its hard to say in numbers because stem plants are just stems that you plant in groups. It doesn't have to be a jungle though. Maybe 10 or so bunches of plants (bunch=about 8 stems) is alot. When you multiply it out, 80 stems, it sounds like alot, but its really not. If you think of 10 groups of stem plants in a 4 foot tank, its not that much.

If you get the fixture and the 50/50 bulbs, you don't have to have alot of plants. You'll have low light (assuming only 50% of each bulb is useable). You can have however many plants you'd like and you shouldn't have much algae. And some algae is to be expected...so remember that.

 

[happygirl65]

OK that makes sense to me. You are very good at explaining all of this and I really appreciate it.

You are right, I really dont think 10 plants/bunches or so is too much. That is probably how many I would have put in there anyway.

I do expect and want a small amount of algae for those lovely critters who like it so much. I just dont want the water turning green and coating everything with slime. That is the nightmare that crops up in my head when I think of algae even though I know it is not usually that way. But since I am in unfamiliar territory here with the plants I tend to expect the worst even though I dont really know WHAT to expect...silly me.

There is another option I should have mentioned You could do the 135 watt fixture and get one 50/50 bulb that would give you 97.5 effective watts. If you ever want to go higher you could just switch out the bulb. i think that combo would give you enough light to grow a nice variety of plants without the CO2 worry, and if you ever want to push it more you could just switch out the bulb. The 72 watt will limit you and there is no upgrade path at all.

This is exactly the route I decided to go. I have it ordered now, so very soon I will have a great light over my tank

I am excited to go to town this weekend and find some lovely plants now!

I really must thank you all so very much for helping me past my fear of the unknown. It is true what they say...KNLOWLEDGE really is POWER!

Thanks again! It is nice to know I have this great resource of people I can trust for information about this hobby. It makes it so much more fun and less intimidating.

I would have never used live plants without all of your wonderful advice!

 

[happygirl65]

OK, I got the new light today....2x65 power compact with 50/50 bulbs....MAN IS IT BRIGHT and BLUE compared to the two little 20w purplish grow lights I had on there before. It is going to take some getting used to that's for SURE!

I can certainly see more little finger and nose prints from all the time my kids spend glued to the tank.