# Lighting a 18x36x20" tank



## kkau1 (Jun 22, 2006)

Hi,

I have an 18x36x20 inch rimless tank. I wanted to hang the light source around 10 inches or so above the tank. 

The way i see it, i really only have 2 choices for lighting.. Metal Halides or T5 Tek Lights.

After some research, i'm thinking of going with tek lights over the metal halides just because of heat issues (it gets really hot here in the summer).

Will a 3ft 6x39W T5 tek light fixture be enough for a medium/high light tank? My tank is roughly 55 gallons, so this tek light would give me 4.25 Watts per gallon.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks : D
Kkau1


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

4.25 WPG would be high light. You'd need to inject CO2 though.


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## Avalon (Mar 7, 2005)

I think 6x39w T5HO is overkill. A 4 bulb fixture will grow anything you want. The TEK fixtures are much more efficient than you might think. The "old school WPG rule" does not apply to T5HO's--maybe if you cut it in half it might. And yes, I agree with epic's rec of CO2, preferably pressurized.


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