# Too deep?



## perkyp (Mar 17, 2009)

I'm eyeing a used aquarium. It's 30" deep. Is that too deep for a planted tank? I would like to grow something like glosso or similar in the foreground.


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## dj2606 (Oct 15, 2008)

Depends on the lighting used. What i mean is T5 lights have better depth penetration than T8's and MH are better than T5's. So it's possible just a matter of how much $.

But to help answer that question we need to know size of the tank.


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## perkyp (Mar 17, 2009)

It's 140g. 60x18x30


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## eco-mod (Oct 19, 2007)

30 shouldn't be too horrible. I'd say whatever wpg you calculate, subtract 1 from it (4.5wpg actual 3.5wpg practical).


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

its going to be hard to reach anything in the back of the tank.


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## eco-mod (Oct 19, 2007)

TAB said:


> its going to be hard to reach anything in the back of the tank.


Depending on the actual total height of the tank and stand it may not be too bad. A good stool/ladder/chair and some longer tweezers do the trick! Try my 36" tall tank that has the rim at about 5ft 6in!!!


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I already posted this in someone Else's thread but I think it will help you here.

The distance of a few inches can significantly reduce the intensity of light getting to the floor in water. So if the light has to travel further (deeper) it loses more intensity vs. a shallower tank.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Light Intensity in Water (in LUX)
------------------------

Distance below surface of water (cm)
----------------------------------------0------------10--------20--------30--------40
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Bulbs and fixture from (3)---16,000 --- 8,800 ---7,700 --6,500 ---5,100

Notes:
1. Measurements made in a 29T gallon tank with fresh, clean water only.
2. Fixture positioned at back of tank and overhung the sides by 9".
3. Measurements made below center of bulb.
4. Bulb center line was 5 cm above water surface.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your tank is roughly 76 cm deep, so you can see how much the light will be decreased by. The bottom of the tank will see much less than 1/4th the light intensity emitted from the bulb, so feel free to really splurge on the lighting if you plan on growing high light plants. My 90 g (also 30" deep) is having trouble growing HC with 2x175 W metal halides, I'll probably have to add more light (and the guy from the other thread where I originally posted this is using 300+watts of T5 light on his 30" deep tank and also is having trouble with the HC).

This info is from this thread:
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:...&ct=clnk&gl=us


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## majerah1 (Feb 11, 2008)

That is really helpful to know!I was wondering why my plants were dying in my 29 tall!They get less than 1wpg by that calculation.Looks like i will be moving them or looking for new lights.


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