Thinking of changing my lighting

[nitro]

I have a Rio 125 and it doesn't have great lighting. The tank is 81cm long.
I do not have a clue where to start, about buying a new light unit etc.

Can anyone give me some help?
Whats the best makes, value for money etc.

Im only a teenager so i cant afford expensive stuff.


Any suggestions?

 

[fraservet]

If you can't afford much, you should just try to improve the lighting unit that you have.

Your tank is about 30 gallons
The rio takes 2 18/20w tubes
so you have about 40w of light
with reflectors that will increase to at least 60w, which is 2wpg
which should be plenty unless you are adding co2

Is it the colour/intensity of the light you don't like?
If your tank seems too dull, try high intensity lights (e.g. power-glo, arcadia freshwater etc.)

If you want better plant growth, try a good plant tube (I like the life-glo)

It is usually best to have a combination of 2 different tubes to give the best overall effect.

I don't know if this helps, if you can provide more info. about what the problem is with your current lights and what you want to achieve, I can suggest more

 

[nitro]

Problems with lighting are, it looks dull, doesnt show off the clours of fish very well and i need more wattage to grow plants which need brighter light.