Think this'll work?

[ChicoRaton]

I found a kit from www.petsupplyliquidator.com that has a powercompact ballast with 2 prewired sockets and 2 96 watt bulbs for $85. I plan to zip-tie them in to my 48" strip light that is already on my 55. do you think that'd work?

[ChicoRaton]

The lighting confusion continues. Which do you think is better for plant growth, 192 watts of 10,000k or 110 watts of "plant-gro" bulbs?

[Seaman]

10,000k will work because I have 80w 6700k and 80w of 10,000k 40w 3000k and 40w actinic. This makes a wonderful color no yellow at all....the main drawback of the 10,000k is it leans to the blue side of the spectrum...so youre not getting ALL of the reds that you need Thats why i do it in conjunction with the other 3000k and 6700k (my actinic is only for night effect)

So unfortunetely I dont have a for sure answer, because I have never run the 10,000k by itself....and im sure you have heard that "More is of the wrong spectrum is better than less of the right spectrum" but again im not sure at what point and what color temperatures this applies to more.....


hope that helps some....If i were you id go with the 192w of 10,000k because it wont look as yellow/dim as the "plant gro" bulbs.

[ChicoRaton]

the 192w of 10,000k is so much more than the 110 of 6,500... 1.75 times as much, that I'm led to believe it's better. It is only about $20 more too, and I can always replace a bulb when I get some extra cash... though the 96w bulbs are a little spendy:eek:

anybody have a different opinion?

[Seaman]

Quoted from here (http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/light-spectrum.html)

"Forget lumens, or look for *lower* lumens per Watt! Your *eye* is what
determines lumens (a psychophysical term). It is 10 times more sensitive
to green than to blue or red. Plants, OTOH, are about 2-5 times more
able to use red (or blue) than green, which they often reflect away. The
combined effect means a tube must spread energy outside the human
response curve for best plant growth, usually. That always results in
lower lumens/Watt. [Bad phosphors also give low lumens/Watt so stick to
the major brands to be safe. Many lfs tubes are just poor and die
quickly."


this makes me think that a 10000k bulb would be ok because it still has an ok amount of red being higher in the green and blue spectrum. Plants can use green, just nowhere near as easy/efficient. but lets let someone else chime in and see what they think.

[ChicoRaton]

That reminds me, I read somewhere in a book about growing plants indoors that blue leads to bushier leafier growth and red makes them flower. seems like blue is what I'd _want_ for a planted tank to get leafy growth. in any case, the 10,000k will have to have a peak in red, maybe a little smaller one, so in my thinking it'll be adequate... and 192 watts is going to look really nice on my tank, though it'll probably illuminate my whole bedroom, hehe.

192 watts is just about 3.5 wpg(3.49)... I should be able to grow anythign I want right? Do you think I'll have major algae problems? Sorry for all the questions but I've never had a high-light tank before.

[RTR]

You do have pressurized CO2, right?

[Seaman]

if it were me...id start out BIG with a bunch of plants to hopefully keep any algae from starting....and keep good timing of your lights 8-10 hours a day.

[ChicoRaton]

I wish I had pressurized co2. I just got to thinking about how much light 192 watts really is... do you think I'd be able to get away with DIY or would I definitely need pressurized? I might end up going with the 2x55w if you think the 192 would be too much to run without a pressurized co2 system.

[Seaman]

I used to use C02 on my 55g and am about where you are on lighting 200w, my plants do well.....i dont do C02 injection, kinda a weird thing, but normally i get some hair algae on my fake driftwood (wich i dont mind) but when i inject C02 i get dark algae that grows on the plants, they only way i have been able to stop the dark algae is to not inject C02 (the only plants it grows on are my slow growing plants [moneywort and anubia]....and my plants still thrive without C02. So no you dont need C02 but it will make a big difference with that much lighting.
Its like a how a fire works, there are three main things plants need
1) Light
2) C02
3) Nutrients

If you limit any one of these, and make one stronger (limit c02 and have abundant light) the plants wont be able to make the full use of the other 2 things it needs. When you get ample amounts of all 3, thats when plant growth will really take off.

PS if you do decide on DIY C02 use the Jell-o method with 2-2litres.

heres a shot of half my tank (the planted part):
(the Val's and anacharis are new in this shot)
http://24.1.156.31/tankr.jpg

[ChicoRaton]

I think I've finally made up my mind. I think I'm gonna go with the two 55 watt CF bulbs for a total of 2wpg of 6700k lighting. I like tanks with a natural look, and the 6700k would be nicer I think than the 10,000 and the place I'm buying the bulbs and ballast from doesn't have anything but actinic and 10,000k in the 96w. So for $65 I think I'll be getting a good deal, 2wpg will do much better than my current 0.75wpg, and shouldn't be as high maintenance as the 3.5wpg setup. I want something that will grow plants and make them look healthy and happy, but not cause a constant battle to keep up with nutrient dosing and co2 and algae and everything. Thanks for your help seaman and RTR!