Is a CF 65W good enough for a 37 high?

Hmmm.

Right now I want to say that it is a bit low, sorry. How high is your tank. You are not even getting 2wpg and it's a high tank. Low light plants should work though, but every takn is different. Experiment and you will see.

Good luck!

boofish2 said:

I really friggin' hope so 'cause I just bought one for over $100! I currently have some amazon sword and a few java lacy fern both of which were doing very badly. Feedback from some of you guys led me to believe that there was not enough wattage even for these low light plants. I know a twin 65W CF light would be ideal but I just couldn't afford $200 especially around the holidays...
So, in conjunction w/fertilizer (which I also just bought) do you think these plant might start to thrive a bit more??

Click to expand...

Not so sure what the length of a 37 gallon high tank is, but a 37 gallon tank is 30" long.

http://www.hellolights.com/30aqualights.html

A 2x65w fixture there would've cost you $123 plus shipping. Where did you get your $100 1x65w fixture? Sounds like an expensive place!!

Hey there. I have the same exact tank as you do and I recently started planting it. I use:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12766&N=2004+113350

my red luigia and amazon swords have grown a ton. My only problem is that my fish are really hard on them. That bulb up there is really cheap and on sale now. That's the one I use. Good luck.

no doubt about it boo...people just dont know about nyc price!! cigarette cost me $6.50 -_-

Just to confuse you a bit more boofish2.
If you want a better and more efficient system and are OK with tools you can build your own with a kit from here:
http://ahsupply.com/36-55w.htm

Read down the page to see why they are more efficient. This is not hype. The more facets in a reflector the more 're-strike' you get and the more light into the tank.
I have built 6 hoods out of these kits and they work wonderfully well and are easy to build with complete instructions. The kits say 55 watt kits, but you can buy the kit and put 65 watt tubes from hellolights.com which is what I do.
I originally bought the complete kits with tubes from AH Supply but IME the Hellolights tubes are more dependable and last longer, not to mention that they are 10 watts brighter to boot!! Now I buy all my tubes from Hello Lights.
But I wouldn't buy a kit or complete hood from them because the AH reflectors are so much better. The description on the page I linked you to are not hype. They are really that much more efficient.
I also have a 37 gal. tank with a 2X65 watt kit over it and you will be able to grow just about anything under that lighting in that tank.
In short, a better more efficient system for half the price and with a bit of building involved. To me it's worth it to save $60.

One more thing. If you look at the reflector on the Hello Lights page you'll notice that both bulbs plug into the sockets on the same end. This leaves a less bright, uneven lighting below on the opposite end. If you build your own hood you put a socket on each end and they over lap in the center giving you more even lighting that is slightly brighter in the center.

Len