# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Lighting



## canadianaquanut (Dec 7, 2004)

I have a 75g planted tank with a 48" 110w high output cf. 9325 k.
Is this sufficient light ?
Is this considered low, medium or bright light. I have read a lot abotu lights but am still a little confused.
Any help greatly appreciated.


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## canadianaquanut (Dec 7, 2004)

I have a 75g planted tank with a 48" 110w high output cf. 9325 k.
Is this sufficient light ?
Is this considered low, medium or bright light. I have read a lot abotu lights but am still a little confused.
Any help greatly appreciated.


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

Following the watt per gallon(wpg) rule.....your setup is on the lower side. This is not a bad thing, you just need to know what type of tank you are looking to achieve. Once you determine that, you can decide on the amount of light you need. Your light temp is on the white side, but it will work. Most people prefer to use 6700k bulbs.
Cheers


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## canadianaquanut (Dec 7, 2004)

I am kinda at a crossroads. 
I have bought a few plants. I have a sword. some crypts, hydrophillia corymbosa, lobelia cardinalis, anubias nana, alternanthera roseafolia and a couple of smaller swords. The tank has been up and running for about 3 months. Most of the plants apart from the alternanthera are doing fine although I have a bit of an algae problem. I talked again to the LFS because I was going to upgrade my lighting. He suggested I use CO2 before I upgraded the lighting. So I bought 3 Hagen CO2 systems last week. I have also started using Seachem Flourish and Seachem Excel. I have a layer of laterite in my gravel too. 
My plan was initially to plant some plants I like try and get some kind of idea how I want the tank to look then start to look into more lighting, ferts, CO2 etc. 
So I guess now I am at that point where I need to learn what I need to make my tank into a lush planted underwater garden. So any sugestions would be helpful. i would like to be able to grow some red plants by the way.


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## imported_Creature (Feb 6, 2003)

I'm no expert but I've done a ton of reading over the past 20 years and I'm still learning and trying new things. The main idea for establishing a successful tank is to have all the parameters necessary for plant growth ready right from the start. This includes CO2, lighting, fertilization and testing, mass planting with fast growing plants (not necessarily the ones you want to keep in the long term), and a large algae-eating population of fishes and shrimp that are kept "lean" so as to get them to eat the algae.

Get the CO2 installed and get the lighting you want soon for the high light plants you want to keep. I'd steer clear of slow growing plants such as the Alternanthera, Anubias, Lobelia and Crypts until you get everything growing well. I'd concentrate on getting things to grow well first, on aquascaping with these plants second, and then replacing some of these plants with more specialized plants. Test your water for nitrate and phosphate and adjust your levels accordingly. Read the "Estimative Index" article, among others in the Library, so as to make the best choice possible.

Even I haven't followed my own advice, but at times, I wish I had. I'm finally growing plants well and adding more specialized plants as needed to add interest to my aquascape. I still have a ways to go before it can compete with many fine tanks found here but it feels that I'm finally past my own crossroads.


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## imported_BSS (Apr 14, 2004)

Creature offers some good advice above. You might also want to check out www.rexgrigg.com for a decent, straight-forward introduction to all the things to consider to get a healthy planted tank going.


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## canadianaquanut (Dec 7, 2004)

Thanks for your help. I'm kinda frustrated now lol. I have the money to buy all of these things not anything extravagant but decent quality lights etc. But when I go into the LFS I have to trust what they are telling me. What kind of lighting, brand , should I be looking for ?


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## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

What brand 110w light do you have now? With 9325K bulb I think its an All Glass. I use two 110w on my 75gal. This should work just fine with CO2 to grow about any thing you would like. I changed the reflectors in the front fixture to get better light penetration for growing short foreground plants. All said 220w is plenty of light for a 75gal.

Hawk


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## canadianaquanut (Dec 7, 2004)

You are right it is an All Glass. How did you change the reflector ?


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## Cougra (Mar 31, 2004)

When you run out of CO2 mix for those hagen units, don't buy anymore of the packages. They are way too costly for what it is. Instead you can make your own mixture using the same amount of sugar they recommend, 1/4tsp of baking soda (Magic stablizer) and 1/2 tsp of yeast. MUCH cheaper in the long run if you use the DIY ingredients!


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## canadianaquanut (Dec 7, 2004)

Thanks
I picked that up on another thread. 
I can't believe they charge $8.99 for that stuff.
And I love the term "Magic Stabilizer"


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## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

Once I bought the better reflectors I just screwed them on over the All Glass reflector. Just make sure you use very short screws so you don't run a screw into the ballast. Took me less the five minuets to install.

Hawk


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## rwong2k (Jan 13, 2005)

hey hawk eye, does a good reflector make that much of a difference? (I'm getting a reflector for these T5 lights I bought from an LFS recently, they didn't come with a reflector just the tube and i guess teh ballast in a very small thin unit)


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## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

Check out this site. They explain the difference in reflectors allot better then I can.
http://www.ahsupply.com/36-55w.htm

I replaced the square type of reflectors that come in the All Glass 110w fixture with one of the reflectors from AH supply. The difference I see is not much BUT the growth in short foreground plants is like night and day in my 75gal tank. After seeing the growth in this tank I started using the AH lighting in other tanks. I have come to the conclusion that its more important to have good light penetration then using the watts/gal rule of thumb. I have a 30gal tank with 2x36w AH lighting. I can grow any thing it this tank. Same goes for a 36gal bow tank with 2x55w. I think the reason that I am able to grow foreground plant in these tanks are the reflectors giving me better light penetration. By using better light penetration am able to use less watts/gal and still have great plant growth. This is just my observation in my tanks but I thank its information that can help beginners setting up there first tank. In my tanks the use of lower watt/gal say under 3w/gal makes it easier to learn how to does ferts and its make it easier to control algae.

Hawk


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## rwong2k (Jan 13, 2005)

thx for the information


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