# Lighting question for 75 gallon



## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

Hi all. I've got a 75 gallon, pretty heavily planted with stems and other more easy growers. I've had plenty of deficiencies, algae and other problems, and upon my soon upgrade to pressurized CO2, i'm starting to question my lighting. I've had plenty of people tell me that my lighting isn't strong enough, due to how deep a 75 is, but i've had others tell me its plenty. Lighting is as follows.

2 t-8 bulbs: 32 watt Phillips 6500K
2 t-12 bulbs: 40 watt "Plant and aquarium" 
Both on for around 11 hours/day

I have a feeling it wouldn't hurt if my lighting was a tad bit more intense, it would help tremendously. I've been told a t-5 upgrade would be a good idea. Frankly, i don't know what the heck to follow with lighting; wpg rule, Kelvin rule, or what. I'd prefer to go buy a $200 fixture to solve all my problems but that isn't in the budget. Any suggestions on fixtures, bulbs, etc would help.

I dose Excel and follow PPS-Pro, and will soon upgrade to pressurized CO2. Stems include Bacopa Carolinia, Ludwigia Natans, and rotala indica. Java Moss as foreground, which is growing well.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi flashbang009,

I too have been thinking about a 75 gallon. I was talking with Kim at AH Supply the other day and asked for his recommendation. He suggested their 4X55 watt Bright kit. If compact fluorescent is an option for you, you might consider his suggestion.


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## Vadimshevchuk (Jul 5, 2009)

I rather go with T-5 swince Pc light you have to change the bulbs alot more then T-5.


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## geeks_15 (Dec 9, 2006)

I have a 4 bulb, 4' T5 fixture from catalina aquarium over my 75 gallon tank. I was running 2 bulbs over a 10 hour lighting period and running all 4 bulbs during a 2 hour midday burst period. My plant growth was good, but BBA algae growth was too much. I have since abandoned the midday burst period and only run 2 bulbs for a 10 hour period. The algae growth has slowed and the algae is regressing. Plant growth continues to be very good. You can see my setup in my journal (linked below). I need to update the journal to show the improvement.

I have T5 fixtures from fishneedit.com also, but not a 4' fixture. I have been happy with the T5 lighting fixtures from both companies and both are pretty affordable.


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## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

Geeks, would this be the fixture you talked about? http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/pro...=1676&osCsid=4ba37771f67754e79b2344a6ea2b361c


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## geeks_15 (Dec 9, 2006)

No. It is this one:

http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/product_info.php?cPath=71_136&products_id=1423&osCsid=4ba37771f67754e79b2344a6ea2b361c


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## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

I found another site, does this light look decent? Better than t8's at least?

http://shop.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-48in-2x54W-T5-HO-Light-Fixture-p/52103.htm


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## geeks_15 (Dec 9, 2006)

I have no experience with that light. I looked at those when buying lights, but opted for the fishneedit.com lights because I could choose 6700k bulbs to go with it. I actually got the 3ft lights for 30 gallon aquariums. Here is the link to the 4 ft lamp.

http://www.fishneedit.com/t5ho-4ft--2lamp-aquarium-light.html

Remember to factor the price of bulbs into the cost of the light. I wouldn't use the 12000k and actinic blue bulbs that come with the odyssea.

That said, if you have 2 x T5HO bulbs over your tank you are going to have a decent amount of light. I think the difference between the light output would be medium to high light (worst T5HO fixture) vs. high light to very high light (best T5HO fixture). I have had all my T5HO lights for less than 6 months so I can't really comment on long term reliability.

If you want to grow high light plants or get the best red color from you plants, the low end T5HO fixtures may fall short. But you can definitely put together a very nice planted tank with the lower end T5HO fixtures.


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## El Exorcisto (Aug 10, 2006)

Want enough light for a lot cheaper, and bulbs that only cost $5 each, for the full-spectrum flavor? Check this out:

http://www.gwapa.org/articles/ODNO/

Do four bulbs for enough light, six bulbs for more light... I use GE Sunshine 5000Ks and GE Daylight 6500Ks, 4 overdriven over my 55. It does nice. With 6 bulbs you could put a couple cool whites in to help your reds go nuts...


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## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

Wow, thats just what i was looking for. But do i have to buy a whole new fixture, or do they sell the right ballasts at home depot?


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## S-KGray (Nov 29, 2008)

HD sells electronic ballasts also


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## El Exorcisto (Aug 10, 2006)

Its cheaper just to buy the shop light. If you want to put it all together in a canopy yo can either screw the shop lights in, or gut the ballast and endcaps. The electronic ballasts at Lowes cost more than their shop lights.


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## MoonFish (Feb 12, 2006)

I've had 4 t8's driven at 2x on my 75 for a few years. The hard part is reflectors. I lucked onto some on ebay but it's the hard thing to find to make the setup somewhat efficient. Reflectors don't cost anything to run and are free light every day. 

I'd like to get away from what I have just for liability reasons. T5's should save a bit of wattage also. I only run 8-9 hours. I have grown a good variety of stuff but some demanding plants got taller than I would have liked.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

There is no Kelvin Rule. Think of kelvin merely as how you want your tank to appear - under what color light. The WPG Rule is bogus when comparing fluorescents of different diameter.

I have a 75 and successfully grew plants with T12 GroLux Std and GroLux WS along with a triple tube T8 fixture with Philips Aquarelle, Philips ADV850 and an AGA 8000K. I actually think the triple tube with those bulbs gave me better plant color and growth than the 2 x 55watt CF fixture I had been using.

The Philips 6500K are probably the Daylight Delux. They have a fair amount of blue light but weak red and lots of green light and not particuarily strong energy emissions. I am not certain about the T12s. I will look into them.

Alot depends on the bubs being used and the ballast. The bulbs I chose have very strong emissions in the blue and red. You can actually have a T12 that provides more energy output in the blue and/or red than a T8. The phosphors and cathode tube all play a role in energy output to the plants.

The only rule that would put all bulbs on a level playing field would be PAR.

You might want to convert one of your fixtures to 2 x 55watt CfFor 2 x 54w T5HO. But you will need to cut back on your photoperiod. As SeattleAquarist said AHSupply is a good way to up grade to CF. If wanting to upgrade to T5HO a good place to deal with is www.naturallighting.com

Good Luck


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Evidently the GE Plant & Aquarium bulb is rather weak as you can see in the normalized spectral plots in the attachments below.


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