Advice for lighting for planted aquarium

[pseud]

Hey,

I'm soon to join the ranks of the planted. Been looking into lighting for a few days now, trying to decide what I need versus what I want versus what I can afford!

I have a 55 gallon All-Glass aquarium, 48" long. It came with a hood and single tube fluorescent strip light. Puts out 40w.

I finally decided on about 2 - 3 watts per gallon. From what I've learned this will give me enough lighting to get some good plant growth, but wont be so much that I'll be breaking the bank balance. A nice "middle of the road" solution. Can someone confirm that for me? Am I likely to run into many problems?

So, the product I think I've narrowed it down to is: Jebo Odyssea 48" 130W Uni Strip Compact Fluorescent. It puts out 130 Watts, which would give me about 2.3wpg

Has anyone had any experience with this product or manufacturer?

And now for the somewhat less trivial questions:

1) I don't want to pay shipping. Any suggestions on where I can purchase this product in a store? (in CT)

2) I did a search and foudn this product for sale on ebay. It had the dimensions (48" x 4" x 2"). My current All-Glass strip light is just over 4 inches in width. I can just take the strip light off, keep the hood on, and put the Jebo light on the same hood, right?

Thanks for your help.
Andy

 

[Lateral Line]

Watts per gallon can be totally meaningless. See my answer in your other thread.

Other thread.

Also consider, that Watts per gallon is a crude guideline. It assumes an "average" sized tank and normal rectangular proportion. Other tanks have different lighting demands.

 

[pseud]

Yup, read it thanks
So is 50/50 good for tropical aquarium?

(If I had to guess I'd guess it was ok, but could be better (the blue actinic is what lets it down) right?)

 

[Lateral Line]

For a planted tank, ALL of your lamps should be between 4500K and 6700K. The effect is not cumulative. One 12,000K is not the same as two 6,000K if that i what you meant. A 12,000k does not emit at the red end of the spectrum.

 

[pseud]

I'm confused as to where Blue Actinic emits in the spectrum...

 

[pseud]

I'm still majorly confused *sigh*

So, if it's a 50/50 bulb does that mean it's between 4500 and 6700K or not?
Are all 50/50 bulbs emitting between the same frequencies?

Basically, is that light unit any good for a planted tropical aquarium?

 

[Lateral Line]

None of those lamps is much good for a planted tank. Actinics are blue end of the spectrum. They are normally used to simulate deeper water coral reef conditions as seawater preferentially absorbs red light.

That enclosure you link too says it is okay for freshwater, but I think only a rift valley tank would suit that lighting, and even then, I'd be worried about algae blooms. That is a marine rig really.

That 50/50 lamp looks like a type which has a 12,000K phosphor on one half, and an Actinic on the other.