Aquarium Light

[DG8o5]

I have a freshwater 55 Gal. I like the blue light look this light gives off. >> The WavePoint T5 48" High Output 4-Lamp Aquarium Light

Do you guys think this light would be ok for my tank with low light plants?

Includes two 54 Watt Sun Wave (12K) Lamps and two 54 watt Blue Wave (460nm Super Actinic) T5 HO fluorescent lamps

 

[DG8o5]

Pictures Attached

 

[the loach]

Those lights are for marine tanks, plants don't do well with those.
Look for lights with a temperature between 6000 to 8000 K and a CRI of 90 and higher for a white, natural look.
You can grow plants with lower color temperature and CRI, but it will look flat and yellow.
Avoid lights without these specifications, unless you'd also buy a car for which the manufacturer would not disclose the MPG rating.

 

[dougall]

Do you like the look of the blue light itself, or the way that the contents of your tank will look under it.

Plants will grow, I'm pretty sure that the majority of the light spectrum will work fine, but the question will be how the plants (and fish) are gonna look.

The Actinic lights will highlight things like blue spangling on your fish, but otherwise my take would be that it will appear kind of washed out and everything will appear kind of pale.

And I would also consider looking at LED lighting too, unless this is an incredible deal or you know specifically why you want T5s.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Just to add to the above advice, that's over 200 watts worth of power being consumed with 4 lamps. Lots of heat added to the tank as well. Plus yearly (or sooner) lamp changes for optimum plant keeping. Fluorescent lamps aren't made like they used to be, nor are the ballasts.

I personally would go with a name brand 48" LED fixture. Finnex, Current Satellite and others.. Can't think off-hand of the names!

 

[DG8o5]

thanks for the Advice. I came accross the above mentioned light for sale for $45 in working condition. Saw it in use and liked the color it put out. I am aware its for marine tanks but wondered how it might work in a fresh.

 

[dougall]

If you like the color, it's fine.

But be sure you saw him the color looks over at freshwater tank.

 

[DG8o5]

If you like the color, it's fine.

But be sure you saw him the color looks over at freshwater tank.

Worse case could I not just remove the blue light and replace? Im looking online and it looks like a $200+ unit

 

[the loach]

They are T5 bulbs, you can just replace those. If you want a lot of blue in the spectrum get Aquastars...
For low light on 55 gal you just need 1 bulb. With 2 you already have medium light...

 

[FreshyFresh]

Worse case could I not just remove the blue light and replace? Im looking online and it looks like a $200+ unit

You can install which ever color/temperature 54watt T5 lamps you want. Problem is like said, quality T5 lamps are expensive and will need to be changed long before they stop working for optimum plant keeping. The radiation they put out that allows plants to grow starts to fade from day one. You cannot detect this by eye. This fade happens with LED fixtures as well, but takes years.