# ott-lite lighting for aquarium???



## johnsbrownsugar (Mar 29, 2008)

HAS ANY ONE TRIED USING OTT FULL SPECTRUM LIGHTING ON THE AQUARIUM? I AM CURRENTLY USING 2 OTT-LITE FLUORESCENT BULBS @ 20 WATTS, 5900K EACH (IN ADDITION TO MY 40 WATT (AQUARIUM) BULB THAT CAME WITH MY 75 GALLON AQUARIUM FOR A TOTAL OF 80 WATTS. THE OTT BULBS ARE ADVERTISED AS FULL SPECTRUM LIGHTING AND ARE SUPPOSED TO MIMIC THE SUN'S NATURAL RAYS (AT 12 NOON). AFTER USING THE LIGHTING FOR ABOUT 1 WEEK, MY TANK APPEARS TO BE WELL LIT AND MY LOW LIGHT PLANTS SEEM TO BE DOING OK. I CURRENTLY HAVE AMAZON SWORDS, LACE JAVA FERN, GREEN CRYPT WENDTI, ANUBIAS NANA AND VANALLISENARIA IN MY TANK. I MUST SAY MY AQUARIUM IS BEAUTIFUL! HAS ANYONE OUT THERE TRIED THESE LIGHTS? I HAVE SEARCHED MANY FORUMS AND I'M HAVING A HARD TIME FINDING INFO ON THEM. Would appreciate any comments. unsure.gif


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Welcome to APC :-D

I'm not fimiliar with the brand of bulb you are speaking of, but 5900k is a good spectrum of light for growing plants. However, the bulbs/fixture that came with your setup are not. So in reality (for growing plants) you do not have 80 watts of light. Even if you did that's really not enough light for even low light plants in a 75G tank. My suggestion to you is to upgrade your lighting fixture if you want to get the proper growth out of the plants you have. You will need at least between 115 watts to 150 watts of light with bulbs ranging from 5500k-10000k.

I would also give this link a read... Beginner Basic Introduction


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

Also check out this site.
Great info on light, co2, plant tank cycles and lots of other stuff.
www.rexgrigg.com


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