vinceandrobyn Posted November 29, 2014 Report Share Posted November 29, 2014 Our tank is 375L and 69cm deep. It came with 2 T8 30w bulbs ( tropical and sunlight). We want to grow a good range of plants and fish and are thinking we will need to upgrade our lighting. Does anyone have any suggestions we are not keen to go down the CO2 path yet. Have a mixed sand/gravel base can use fert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinceandrobyn Posted November 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2014 This is the tank at the moment: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted November 29, 2014 Report Share Posted November 29, 2014 4 tube of T5 HO(high output) lighting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 T5HO gets through my 60cm deep tank. If you want to grow high light plants you might need to remove a lot of the driftwood as its going to block the light getting down to the substrate. I find with my tank that while the glosso grows just fine with T5HO, things like crypts, java fern etc get an awful lot of algae due to them being higher up in the tank, exposed to a lot of light and being slow growers. BBA grows very well on the wood under higher lighting too. High light as you have realised does need fertilisers, root balls and micro/macro mix ferts will work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinceandrobyn Posted November 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Thanks for replies. We've also been considering leds as they seem like a cheaper option. But we don't know alot about lighting so trying to do some research. I also wondered whether leaving the light on for longer could help plant growth or would it upset the fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted November 30, 2014 Report Share Posted November 30, 2014 Good LED light for plants are not cheap. Cheap led light is a waste of time and only good for looking at your fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Li@m Posted December 1, 2014 Report Share Posted December 1, 2014 Good LED light for plants are not cheap. Cheap led light is a waste of time and only good for looking at your fish. :gopo: :iag: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted December 1, 2014 Report Share Posted December 1, 2014 Hmm.. you could try the Finnex Ray 2 in 10,000K but you'll need to run a HO T5 unit in conjunction with it. Put plant pros or powerglos in the HO unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiegreenthumb Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 hqi metalhalides or 1-3w cree leds will grow anything over 2ft deep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted December 3, 2014 Report Share Posted December 3, 2014 IMO you would need 2 Finnex Ray IIs for a 69cm deep tank. We have one on a 50cm deep and it does great but the PAR seems to drop significantly on deep tanks with LEDs. You could perhaps get away with one BuildMyLED, but they're not cheap (but I'd loooove to see some in NZ with them ). LEDs are a cheaper option in the long-run and well worth the investment, it's just you tend to need 2 units for higher lighting especially on deep tanks, and the initial cost puts people off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted December 3, 2014 Report Share Posted December 3, 2014 It really all depends on what plants you want to grow near the bottom, for any ground cover type plants you will pretty much need to have either some HQI Halides or a minimum of 3w cree/bridgelux leds with some 60-75degree lenses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinceandrobyn Posted December 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2014 Thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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