# 260 Watts Coralife for my 55



## lokobreed (Apr 22, 2004)

I just got my 260 Watts light (4x65 Watts) from Coralife today and let me tell you it sure beats the 40 Watt I used to use...

I am injecting Co2 into the tank next week and plants are on the way...

I had heard some people say that there is going overboard on lighting... I checked first at plantedtank.net and they all agreed 260 watts is great for a 55 gallon what all yours view?


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## BigRed27 (Mar 11, 2004)

I am new to this whole thing and I just bought 144 watts of AHS for my 40 gallon. You have about 4.7 wpg which seems a little high but if you have a tall tank it does take more light to get down there. I would say with this combo you definetly need that CO2. But again I am new to this whole planted fish tank thing


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## Corigan (Mar 15, 2004)

I have 160 watts on my 55g and everything grows like crazy. That 260 is going to be fine. Just make sure you keep the co2 going and checkinv your levels immediately. At that ammount of lighting things can take a turn for the ugly (algae, nutrient imbalances, etc.) quick.

Matt


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

I would try starting the tank with only 2 or maybe 3 of the bulbs at first. Then, as the tank settles in and you get everything balanced out, start adding the 3 and later the 4th bulb. Starting with that much light and new plants seems to be asking for a lot of extra work and hassle. What kinds of palnts will you have? Remember that new plants will often be: emersed grown so will not grow well initially, in a weekend state from shipment, be defficient in some nutrients and have a store built up of others. All this makes balancing a tnak hard initially nad tons of light makes it even harder because you can't anticipate what your plants will need or do. 4.3 watts, evn over a 55 gallon is a ton of light, especially considering they are PC. I would not think you would ever need more than 3 of those bulbs. Two bulbs gives you 2.6 wpg of PC. That should grow mosts too.

Just my 2 cents.

Dennis


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