Pro's and Con's of this light.......

A

AQUA_OBSESSION

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Dec 12, 2005
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I am in the market for a 48" light for a planted tank and came across this one. Can anyone tell me their thoughts on this one???

http://www.aquauniverse.com/compone.../category_id,50/option,com_phpshop/Itemid,31/

6 X 65 Watts - I can choose any combination of bulbs so I was thinking (4) 6500K and (2) 10,000K bulbs.

Is it better to go for the 96 watt bulb fixtures or does it not make a difference.

Any feedback, info, or thoughts would be appreciated.
 
Sorry for not including that. It is a 90 gallon tank.

Total watts would be 390W or 4.8 wpg.

Thanks,
 
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That's an extremely high amount of lights, you don't need to go that high for any plants. Using that much light will be asking for weekly trimmings and high levels of CO2 and ferts, or alot of algae problems. 2x96w or 4x65w should be more than enough for all plants.
 
I think you guys may be right.

I do have two planted tanks right now, one with pressurized CO2 - I guess you see Amano's tank's with the Halides and get all excited.

My main question is really this....

Go with T8 bulbs (65W) or T5 bulbs (54W). What is a better bulb or does it really matter?
 
I use this with 2 67k and 2 10k over my 90 and I grow all plants. I have my timer on the 67k set for 12 hrs and the 10k for 4 hrs and my plants grow like crazy, all without Co2. I use dry ferts from greg watson and I get my CO2 from a weekly dose of Flourish Excel. I think that light is overkill for a 90g, but it does look nice. probably better for a reef with those lunars, but go with that coralife and your plants will be fine with no pressurized Co2, just excel. pocket the change and get more plants or fish! :)

http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...59211&itemNo=32&Nao=24&In=Fish&N=2030061&Ne=2
 
I would discourage your from using excel in a 90 gal. Not only would you run out of money quick, but it is not the way to go. Buckle down and get pressurized CO2. It will be more than worth it to save you from impending headache.
4x65 is perfect for a 90 gal. You must dose ferts and run CO2 at about 30ppm or you will run into algae problems. Then you can sit back and watch your plants grow~
 
3 x 54 w T5's, 4x 55-65 w/PC's are more than enough.

If you want a lower light nice tank, the 2x 54 w T5's will work well.

More light is not better and the ADA tanks don't use those MH's for 8-10 hours, they use them for 3-4 or so. the rest of the time they run the low PC/T5's at 1.5-2 w/gal.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
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