i need some help wiht lighting

[knutty]

i know there has been a lot about lighting in this forum, but i would like some specifics. my tank is a 55 gallon, 48 inch tank. light sections are 24 inches long. i have a large amazon sword that seems to be doing ok. i have some moneywort that agian, seems to be ok, and i have some anacharis that is growing well. i want to add more plants but before i do, i want to get the light right. i am not sure what is in there, but it is the standard flrouescent lights that came in the standard fixtures on my all glass tank. i am sure they are not super high quality. first of all, what kind of lights do i want? do i want 50/50, do i want 10,000k...i have no clue. i have fish in there and they dont have eyelids, so i dont want to kill them with light. i have a moonlight system for nighttime and i keep the lights on from 9am until mindnight. i also dont want a house fire. so i need ot get the right bulbs for my tank. what do you suggest?

 

[knutty]

also, can i use VHO bulbs in a stnadard fixture? do i need them?

 

[aquamanis]

Hi Knutty, before recommending any tubes I need to know what fittings you have. If I read this right your tank is 4 foot but your light fittings are 2 foot, is that right? How many tubes do you have now and what wattage are they? It might be easier and cheaper in the long run to upgrade to 4 foot fittings if you don,t have room for at least 4 x 2 foot fittings. There are two things you could do. 1: Have 4 x 25 watt grow tubes (mix red and blue spectrum tubes like power glos and day glos) which will give you 100 watts which for your tank will be ample. OR 2: Have 2 x 4 foot tubes of 36-40 watts each again mixing red and blues which is less light but should be enough for you unless you plan to use CO2 in which case you would need at least 3 x 4 foot tubes of 36-40 watts each. Hope this makes sense!

 

[odjbo]

Well Knutty,

Tropical Rectangular aquarium

Length: 48 Inches
Width: 15 Inches (Approximation)
Depth: 17 Inches (Approximation)

Distance of light source from gravel: 18 Inches (Guess)
Surface area: 720 Inches2
Volume: 52.99 US gallons
Weight of water: 440.9 lbs
Max. units of fish: 60 Inches
Heating required: 132.47 watts

Lighting requirements

Low light plants: 94.25 watts
Low-medium light plants: 141.38 watts
Medium-bright light plants: 212.07 watts
Bright light plants: 318.11 watts

The lighting is adjusted for plants - some fish prefer dark conditions, and obviously these should be kept with low-light plants. These values may be taken as a guideline.

As an approximation, you can see generally how much lighting you require for some of the more difficult plants. Perhaps you could try visiting www.tropica.com to find out about some of your favourite plants and their requirements.

There are several ways to achieve the amount of wattage required:

a. Normal tubing... You'll be able to manage 4 X 40 Watt tubes in your hood, giving you a total of 160Watts, allowing good Low to Medium Plant growth.

b. T5 Tubing. 42" tubes generate 54Watts each and due to the smaller diameter, (T8 tubing being the normal size) you'll be able to fit 8 X tubes over your tank in a DIY scenario, or 4 in an illuminaire set-up (Arcadia), this allows for the addition of 2 X 40 Watts (Flora-Glo). Allowing a possible DIY: 432Watts or Arcadia +, 296Watts. (I have the latter, and it works to GREAT effect)...

c & d. Metal Halide and Mercury Vapour... Very EXPENSIVE, compared to the above (IF you have the money, however, you will NOT be dissapointed.

As far as spectrum is concerned, read around this site (and others) and study up on plants photosysthesis requirements. The evoloution of plants is a good place to start.

Hope this helps,

D.

PS: Do not forget CO2 !