In need of lighting recommendations!! Planted tank

What kind of plants do you want to grow? This will determoine the kind of lighting that you need for this set up.If you want high light plants then you will need at least 3 watts of light per gallon of water which in your case would be 165 watts of light. Coralife has some nice fixtures for planted tanks. You might want to check those out.

Marinemom

www.ahsupply.com sells some DIY kits with very good reflectors that will help refocus the light so you get more out of them. The more light you have the more work it'll be to maintain the tank, if this is your first planted tank I would recommend staying at 2wpg or lower.

phanmc said:

The more light you have the more work it'll be to maintain the tank

Click to expand...

This is so true. I had about 5watts per gallon over my tank becuase I was under the impression that the more watts the better. Well thats not always true. Even with CO2 and fertilizers I ran into all sorts of issues with algea and my plants growing several inches a day. I have since cut back, I don't use as much co2 and I still fertilize and while I don't have as much of an algea problem my plants still grow really fast and drive me nuts.


A good amount of light is approximitly 2-3 watts per gallon but the best way to determine how much light you need is by looking to see what plants you want to keep. Like Marinemom asked, have you thought about what plants you might like?


Also, ahsupply does have some nice DIY kits and reflectors but if you don't want to buy them a white background is just as good since white reflects everything.

Oops, you posted while I was typing.

still, do you have any specific names of plants you were looking into buying?

2.3wpg will be able to grow most of the common and beginner plants, though you may need to consider CO2 injection and a regular fert schedule at that light level.

Rotala magenta is a light hungry plant that is not easy to grow, not a good choice for a beginner plant. Most red or colorful plants requires more light than most beginners are ready for but there are a few options. Rotala Rotundifolia (indica) and ludwigia repens (broad leaf ludwigia) can add some color to a tank with under 2wpg and are much easier to grow.

CO2 will benefit any planted tank, but doesn't become a necessity until you get over 2wpg. Above that point the increased light will accelerate plant growth and without sufficient CO2 or nutrients your plants will show signs of nutrient deficiency. The accelerated plant growth will include algae growth as well so algae problems will develop more quickly.

Go over to the plant forum section and read the fertilizer sticky. It's just as important to know what nutrients are needed as the light and CO2 requirement.

I am new to this, but set up a 55g with the coralife 2x65 about 4 weeks ago and the plants seem to being doing well. Probably have to start some type of co2 though? I run them on a timer about 8 hrs a day...