Med to High light plants

[Blueiz]

Im looking at getting a light strip for my 75 g tank. While I am running PC lights on my other planted tanks, I hear that T5 ho lighs are the new way to go. They require less wattage per gallon to achieve the same results as PC lights do. My question is, how many watts of T5 do I need per gallon? The per gallon wattage, I know is just a rule of thumb. In any event. Can anyone give me a reccomendation? I need a 48 inch strip of a 75 gallon and either a 72 inch strip or 2 36 inch strips for a 125 g tank.

Thanks in advance,
Blue

[Cory Keeper]

are you building a canopy or are you wanting a premade fixture?

If you are DIYing a canopy, 2x 48" tubes should provide enough light.

Ballast http://www.1000bulbs.com/F54T5-Fluorescent-Ballast/
caps http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12773&rel=1
Bulbs http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13821+13823&pcatid=13823

Not exactly cheap.... but

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13822+19759&pcatid=19759

The above link has a 2x54w fixture for 131.99. Not exactly bad.

[Bk828]

For the 75g
Choice 1: you can go with Catalina 4x54w. This will give you more than enough light to grow medium to high light plants. You wont even have to run all 4 bulbs at the same time for the whole day to get good results.
http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/product_info.php?cPath=71_136&products_id=1423&osCsid=d923e5e30aa7bd2ccc556fff224f9864

Choice 2: Getting Two 2x54w strip from drfosters. Nova Extreme SLR t-5 lighting. Their model is the newest which has Single lens reflectors (i think thats what it stands for :x ) which are the best choice for any lighting. This light is very similar to the Catalina.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=16770

For the 125g you can mess with the same lights. Just go with the 36" strips instead of the 72".

[Blueiz]

Thanks for your replies. I have decided to go with the strip from catalina aquariums. It was just to awesome of a deal to pass up. 48 inch, 4X54 watt t5 for 202.29 shipped :)

[Bk828]

Just a few things to mention.
1- call them so they will replace the actinic bulbs with fw bulbs
2- the fixture does not come with a splash guard so a glass top is needed
3- when you call, you can also ask if they can throw in the legs for free :P

and finally
4- they can rewire the fixture for you so the 2 switches control different bulbs. Either SwitchA controls Bulb 1-2 or it can control Bulb 1-4. And same for the 2nd switch.

[Manzanitadude]

I have bought from: http://www.fishneedit.com, decent products with really reasonable prices.

[Fordtrannyman]

I have bought from: http://www.fishneedit.com, decent products with really reasonable prices.

Great Find BCNF, Thanks.

[Riiz]

Just a few things to mention.
1- call them so they will replace the actinic bulbs with fw bulbs
2- the fixture does not come with a splash guard so a glass top is needed
3- when you call, you can also ask if they can throw in the legs for free :P

and finally
4- they can rewire the fixture for you so the 2 switches control different bulbs. Either SwitchA controls Bulb 1-2 or it can control Bulb 1-4. And same for the 2nd switch.


You can get a splashguard from them or goto lowes and have one cut for it, no need for a glass top, if you choose.