Please suggest lighting for 90G tank

C

Candychi

AC Members
Sep 15, 2008
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Evans, Georgia
christineskeepsakebabies.webs.com
I want a more heavily planted tank than what you see in my gallery pictures.

I was told at the LFS that the T5 HO with 2 54Watt bulbs light was good enough ,but there was a misunderstanding:

I had gone in there to get filtration ,lighting,more gravel, substrate made for plants(with fertilizer,etc..) test kits,etc..etc..etc....

After we were helped with picking out a canister filter, I told the guy I wanted something good enough for live plants , someone who was an expert would have (alhough I'm no expert), Not something basic, but didn't want to spend 600 and he misunderstood me. I realize NOW it's not hid fault for misunderstanding me,(misunderstandings happen and I'm not the best communicator) as I should have said "for lighting" but in my mind I was thinking for lighting... He thought I meant for ALL the supplies i was buying that day. So he didn't show me anything in the store other than what I got :( .

If I had known they had the same exact thing with 2 more bulbs,and only 200.00 more I would have probably gone with that ! It was only 300something. I found out they had better ones after confronting the guys and telling them my dad said what I had wasn't enough.

My dad was dropping off my son and saw my tank the oher day. I told him my plans for the tank,and he said I didn't have enough lighting. He recomended 2 bulbs of Compact florescent lighting or do some kind of custom/home made lgihting (Which I have NO idea how to do) . He hasn't had tanks for 20+ yrs,but I still took his word because hes very knowledgable.
So I go back to the LFS When I went back to the store, the 1st guy I tell him what my dad said,and he showed me what they had, then said that is old school and more people are using the T5 lighting. He said what would be better . So then he showed me the same T5 ,but 4 bulb one for 3hundred something. Then he goes and helps another customer. I go to tell the person who helped me originaly what my dad said and then what the other employee said, and tell him "Why didn't you show me what else you had and tell me that other one was better ???" He kept saying "you said you didn't want to spend more than 600,remember? " And explained that he didn't want to push sales on me if it was out of my budget/limit ,and was just trying to work with me. And I got confused and believed him(I gotta stop second guessing myself) ,because..... *rewind bach to that 1st day of purchasing everything:

After we picked out the light (out of two choices he gave me) I was so suprised and exited at how low cost the light was I still wanted to make sure we didn't go overboard in our spending. We had 2,000.00 left in the bank from our tax refund $ and I didn't want to spend it all on fish stuff, so I started asking my husband to total everything on his cell phone calculator to see where we were at. The guy saw him doing this.
I only realized LASTnight why it seemed weird the guy kept saying "look,your still under your limit" while we were at the register when it was almost time to pay for the stuff and we were at 575.00 for everything.
Anyway, now the guys there think I only wanted to spendX amount on everything (when it was the LIGHTING i had a limit of 600) .

It's past the 7days to try to get a refund,and now I have to decide if I want to take the $130. as a loss :( (what a waist of $ to end up not using it) and buy something entirely different , OR buy a whole new light strip(with 2 bulbs) to suppliment the one I already have. It upsets me there was a misunderstanding, but I need to figure out what to buy now so I can get over being upset and just try to forget about it.

I do paln on going back and tell ing them what I meant that day I came in to buy everything for aprox 575.00 and that I'm not mad at them for misinuderstanding me. But I am still upset he would sell me something that isn't good enough,just to meet (what he thought) was my budget limit. If it's not good enough for my needs, and I would STILL have wanted to know what I should have bought, I hate it when people can't be blunt &honest enough to speak up ,just because they're afraid of being pushy or affending me. It also makes me mad he thought I didn't have the $. Now I don't have the $ (upfront) ,because we spent the rest of our tax refund $. BUt I wanted to get the right lights then while I had the $. I was mad at myself for not thinking to come here and research 1st too , but it's too late, so oh well. :wall:
 
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Forgot to say, I do have a job,and if I need something that costs more than 200.00 I'm willing to save for it, until I can get it. I am wondering if I go ahead and just get a 2nd T5 2 bulb light strip (It has those blue lights,and a reflector,with two on/off buttons) .
The question I have about that is, it would only cost me another 130 to get a 2nd one, (totaling 260). The same store sells the same light but with 4 bulbs (Don't know the wattages) but it costs over 300.00. I'm thinking that one might be better if it costs more, but then I'd have to re-sell my existing light,because I wouldn't need it. I've only had my existing T5 HO , for over 1 week . I'm to embarrassed to ask for a refund/exchange,and I think their refund policy is 7days anyway. Plus when I went back there to talk to them,they seemed insensitive towards me didn't even offer to do a exchange. Im kinda irritated w/them so I paln to buy else where too. I won't stop shopping there for fish&plants,etc..,as they are the best fresh & salt water FS in area.
 
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2 t5ho bulbs... full length of the tank? that should be fine to grow about anything your heart desires. he sold you a good fixture imo.

let's talk about the bulbs though. 6500k, 8000k, 10,000k? what color? or which bulbs?
 
I have three 2 bulb T5 fixtures on my 90g and the plants grow like weeds. Three nova extreme fixtures cost me about $330 and they came with the proper spectrum bulbs for plants. You can always get two for now and add a third one later on.
 
Sorry. Two t-5 is not enough. Not nearly. Its exactly as you suspect- its enough for a basic planted tank if you're talking about low tech and you wnat swords and java fern, but it doesn't sound like that's you plan.

As for color- 6500k, 6700, 10000k, (and GE makes a beautiful color compact florescent bulb that's in the 8,000s but is pretty expensive) any and all will work just fine for plants. Its a matter of your preference.

You want roughly 200w WITH GOOD REFLECTORS, and you'll be able to grow just about anything. My 90 has four AH supply 55w bulbs on it, and I can grow ALMOST anything I want- although even with 220w I don't get enough light for soem foreground plants to flourish. If you want T-5s, you want 4 50+w bulbs. I can not stress enough how important it is to have a fixture with high quality reflectors. If you don't have pressurized CO2 on the tank, I wouldn't bother to run additional lighting until you do.

I have tanks with t-5s, PCs and MH lighting. I don't think there is a real difference in plant growth/health. IME the growth you'll see with 100W of MH is roughly the same as 100W of PC is the same as 100W of T-5s if they all have efficent reflectors. They appear different to your eye and the fixtures are different design, you might prefer the look of one over the other, but the plants don't lie and they don't seem to care.
 
I have 1 DBL Hagen GLO HO T5 on my 90G now seems to light it pretty good and I imagine it would do fine for easy growing plants. If I add pressurized Co2 I would add a 2nd identical fixture if my intent was to grow more demanding plants. If I was doing DIY Co2 I wouldn't 1 fixture should be enough.

What I'm trying to say is it really depends on what you are aiming to accomplish with your tank.
 
I was told (and it also says on the box) , that it has a good reflector. It is 10,000K . Each bulb is 54 watts and there are 2 bulbs. I'm sorry but when I pull the light fixture closets to the front of the tank, I see how dark it looks in the back. My sword plant leaves and another kind of plant are geting brown and looking not as good as when they were first purchased. These plants don't looked burnt,but just a little bit "weak/unhealthy" IF YKWIM??

I have substrate made for plants ,in a layer underneath the gravel (small gravel rocks) . Mixed with root tabs style fertilizers. I also have liquid fertilizer. I was wanting to do c o 2 , to help out the plants,but I don't think what lighting I have is enough. It's not so much that I want massive growth. Just to keep the plants very happy and thriving . I read a bit a year ago and know water chemistry and the right fertilizers are also a factor ,not just lighting and co 2.
If I buy a 2nd T5 light strip with two bulbs, i will have a total of four 54watt bulbs. Each light wil lhave two on/off buttons. One for each bulb. SO with two light fixtures, I can also turn off 1-2 of the lights on just one,if needed, or run all 4 lights shorter or longer periods of time , depending on what ever is needed.
Oh and I was jsut gonig to do coke bottles with yeast hooked up to air line tubing and a glass diffuser until I decided to buy a pressurized c o2 system. I didn't think I would need a pressurized system yet, since I don't consider myself advanced and I am still just learning how to care for the plants. (?) .
I want to learn as I go,but would one day (with this tank) love to have something impressive looking :) ,like LOTS of HEALTHY looking plants. I don't care if they grow slow or super fast,just want to be able to keep most things alive and when peopel come over my house they will say WOW !!! :)
 
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10,000k... which brand/model? some members might have insight that can help.

diy co2 on 90 gal. is not going to do much at all.

without co2 i really don't think you need more light. i'm running ~1.3 wpg t8 and t12 and growing plants fine in my 50. that's a lot less than you have considering tank size and bulb type.

you should choose your plants wisely. i'd buy them here or ask around before i bought anything.

dry ferts will be your best bet for reliability and price... www.aquariumfertilizer.com

there's an awesome recipe for root tabs in the sticky in the planted section here. i find it's much better and cheaper than anything i've bought.

at any rate tom barr has written a lot on planted tanks and his info i've found to be the most helpful. check out this article/thread if you get a chance... http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/2817-Non-CO2-methods
 
it's pretty new so unless he saw my signature, maybe not. i wouldn't be surprised if he's on dendroboard and a couple others though.
 
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