# Some Questions



## satsumas (Nov 20, 2006)

I am new to the high light/heavily planted aquarium and i have some questions that i'm not too proud of asking! These are just general things to do with lights, i'm still fairly new to the hobby as i'm into my second year as a fishkeeper now but there are some things i would like to know with regards to the planted aquarium...

First of all i have ordered a luminaire for my 20gal long renovated tank.
Here is a link to the luminaire: eBay.co.uk: CURRENT USA Satellite 96w 36" Aquarium Reef Strip Light (item 270011593200 end time 08-Nov-06 23:00:17 GMT)
I understand that this will come with a 50/50 bulb which will half the total watts of light, so instead of 96Watts it will be more like 48.
I would like the full 96W or at least enough light to grow pretty much any plant.
Now i will need to replace the 50/50 bulb with a daylight bulb but which one?
I have the standard Flora-Glo 36" daylight bulbs available to me but would these be ok or am i looking in the total wrong direction? [smilie=p: 
This would be a 30W light but these are the standard bulbs that come with the hoods when you buy a tank so this isn't right surely?

TIA


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

I would keep it as a 50/50 bulb so that you only have 2.4WPG (watts per gallon), but it might look too blue for you. With a full 96w, you're hitting 4.8WPG, and if you have that running 10-12 hours a day, that's way too much light. 

The standard Flora-Glo bulbs are T8 bulbs I believe, and won't fit in the power compact fixture you're going to get. Since they're T8 bulbs, they won't be as efficient as the PC or T5 bulbs either.

It'd be better if you looked at T5 lighting since each 36" HO (high output) bulb is 39W. One bulb would give you ~2WPG, and then during the middle of the day, you could turn the other bulb on for a few hours to give you close to ~4 WPG for a burst of light. The more bulbs you have, the more flexibility you'll have in controlling your light levels.


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## satsumas (Nov 20, 2006)

I must admit it does seem a lot of light for the tank.

Yes they are T8's. It's so simple that i feel quite stupid now!
Of course the T8 bulb won't be compatible with the compact fixture :frusty: 

I think the actinic bulb will be a little blue for me and i'd prefer a more standard white if possible.
I can't seem to find compact fluorescent bulbs anywhere but i ideally want to be over 3wpg which will leave me open to most plants.

I don't have any particular plants i want to grow but i would like to have a nice green carpet groundcover. Maybe some rotala wallichii or other red plants and slightly more demanding background plants. I also like the look of the blyxa japonica (spelling?) Apart from that i would like to grow some java fern and anubias.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Even ~2.5WPG will let you grow most plants in your tank.

Another option is to go for the AHSupply retrofit kit. 2x36w, giving you 72 watts. I believe they have reflectors spanning 34".

This will give you 3.6WPG, which is definately good, considering the quality of the AHS reflectors.


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## satsumas (Nov 20, 2006)

I would like to look at and buy plants with confidence that i can grow them healthily. I know that groundcovers can be demanding but what would i be open to grow with 2.5wpg? I very much like the look of the Elatine Tiandra.

I'll have a scout around but i doubt that the AHSupply retrofit ki will be available to me here in the UK.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

> I very much like the look of the Elatine Tiandra


FWIW, I have this plant growing in one of my 50's with 126W lighting for 10hrs.



> I'll have a scout around but i doubt that the AHSupply retrofit ki will be available to me here in the UK.


 e-mail Kim at AHS and find out. I can't see why he couldn't ship this overseas.


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## satsumas (Nov 20, 2006)

Bert H said:


> FWIW, I have this plant growing in one of my 50's with 126W lighting for 10hrs.


That's pleasantly surprising! 



Bert H said:


> e-mail Kim at AHS and find out. I can't see why he couldn't ship this overseas.


How do i go about doing that?


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

As far as I know they do ship internationally (though if your looking at anything electric double check that they have 220v for Europe). You can probably find their email address on their website:

Compact Fluorescent Lighting Kits


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

AH Supply has "international kits" at: International Bright Kits, and their email address is also on their website. No one provides better customer service than they do.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

> No one provides better customer service than they do.


100% agree!


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## satsumas (Nov 20, 2006)

2.4 wpg seems fine to grow most plants and I don't think i'll be buying another light fixture as it seems a bit of a waste and i'm on a fairly strict budget. I'll stick with what im getting i think. 
Thanks for the links though, I just wish i'd asked for them sooner!


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