# How many t5HO for a 150 tall?



## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

Hello,
I am looking to get a light fixture for my 150 gal tall tank (31" top to bottom), and came across this one.

http://www.prolighting.com/el4sa854univ10cspf.html

Would 8 T5 HO's be too much? Should I go with 6 instead? I want medium light levels at the substrate, and do not want so much light that I have to run CO2.

Thanks,
Cat


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## inkslinger (Jan 1, 2005)

IMO: I think 4 t5 ho;s 54w with good reflectors should be enough , But 6 t5's if you can shut off each pair would also be nice, I have 6 t5 54w on my 110g tank and that's a lot of lite so I keep 1 pair off. I can also have my lights come on from back to front with a 1 hr noon burst with all 6 on the same time.


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## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

Thanks for your response. How tall is your tank? The reason I was thinking of getting an 8 light fixture was to make sure enough light reached the bottom of my tank, which is 31" deep. If I can get away with 4 or 6, that would be great. I don't think these lights have separate cords for each pair, but I think I can run them with empty sockets.

Cat


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

I agree with inkslinger. You don't need a full light cycle at the max getting to the bottom. A couple of hours should be enough. What are you planing on putting at the bottom. Tall tanks are really uncomfortable to plant and trim so I would choose plants wisely.


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## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

I expect it's going to be really uncomfortable, especially since I am only 5'3".  The plants I am planning on are fissedens fontanus (phoenix moss), vesicularia ferriei (weeping moss), echinodorus vesuvius, anubias nana, marsilea hirsuta (dwarf four leaf clover), amazon sword (giant mother plant), and eriocaulon japan if I can find a way to make it work.

I probably won't trim the mosses too much, and would probably just let them do what they're gonna do. I have some long handled trimmers that will reach the bottom of the tank, so I can use those to trim larger leaves that need it. For the four leaf clovers, I am going to try to get some that have been grown submerged so I don't have to worry about emersed growth dying off. If I cannot get submerged growth four leaf clover, I can put them in a grow out tank until submerged growth appears. The anubias nana will be attached to a stump, and will be easy to reach. Of course, if any of this dies and it has to be removed, that will be a problem. However, I plan to let the plants grow out for a few weeks/months before I add fish, so emptying the tank to rescape will be easier if I do have to remove dead plants.

So which light set up would you recommend? Maybe the 6 lamp? Is the high bay light fiture ok? I chose that kind of fixture because it supposedly narrows the light beams down to make it more focused, and I figured that would be good for a tall tank. The fixtures I am looking at have Miro4 95% reflective reflectors.

Thanks!
Cat


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