# I NEED HELP BUYING Lighting for a 1200uk gallon 10ft w x 4ft d x 4ft h PLANTED tank



## apctt77 (Mar 15, 2009)

Hey guys this is my first post on here so hello to all of you

I want a low light planted tank containing Java Moss (Vesicularia dubyana), Java Ferns (Microsorum pteropus), Bolbitis Ferns (Bolbitis heudelotii), Anubias (Anubias spp.), Christmas Moss aka Amano Moss (Fontinalis antipyretica), Crypts (Cryptocoryne spp.), Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta) and anything else you may recommend as being a low light plant.

Someone on another forum recommended that I have 3w per gallon which for a 1200g tank (10ft w x 4ft d x 4ft h) works out to 3600w!

He also recommended that I use HQI lamps for a tank this size. I did some googling and found the following:-

Metal Halide 150 watt HQI-TS Marine/Aquarium 20000 Kelvin £39.46 inc. VAT (I WOULD NEED 24 = £947)
http://www.bltdirect.com/product.php?pid=8361

Metal Halide 250 watt HQI-TS Cool White 4000 Kelvin £25.13 inc. VAT (I WOULD NEED 15 = £377)
http://www.bltdirect.com/product.php?pid=4730

Dakal 250w HQI DOMO Highbay c/w Lamp £143.99 inc. VAT! (I WOULD NEED 15 £2160) These last 6000hrs/250 days/8months so that's actually £2700 per year
http://www.alertelectrical.com/Light...p-DOMO250M.asp

14" PFO Solaris I5 14,000K LED Hood £574 (I WOULD NEED 9 as they're equivelent to 400w HQI lights = £5166) These last 6 years though so that's £861 per year plus they use half the power of HQI lights
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp...OD&ProdID=1526
(INFO ON THESE LED'S - The new I5 series produces PAR light output levels equal to a 400W MH 15k. It uses 40% less energy than the 400W MH 15k fixtures it replaces. The life of the LEDs is approximately 50,000 hours, so it almost eliminates metal halide and fluorescent bulb replacements. All heat is radiated up and away from the tank; therefore, it does not heat the water like Metal Halides or Fluorescents. This eliminates the need for Chillers. The room air conditioner needs to work ½ as much since the light fixture produces only ½ the heat of Metal Halides which saves even more energy over traditional lighting methods).

Will I really need this many bulbs for each light type because I clicked the Energy Saving Light Bulbs Price Comparison Evaluation for the Metal Halide 250 watt HQI-TS Cool White 4000 Kelvin and it says that a 100w one of these bulbs is the equivelent to a 500w normal bulb!
http://www.bltdirect.com/energy-saving-bulbs.php

I'm really confused on what I need to get and how much to get, am I even looking at the right bulbs/lights?

What would you use on such a big tank?

I'm wondering whether it's going to work out to be cheaper to put the money into lights or into a Co2 setup and getting weaker/cheaper lights

Thanks in advance


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