# Finnex Ray 2 & Finnex Planted 24/7 on 30in deep



## Robert Johan (Feb 28, 2019)

Hi again all,

My new tank arrives this Saturday, it's a 96x30x30 inch.

I have 2 x 48inch Finnex planted Plus 24/7 lights now however i'm pretty sure the light will not be strong enough at the bottom of the tank for any ground cover plants i try and grow. 

So i was wondering if i bought 2 x 48inch Finnex Ray 2 lights and placed them at the front of the tank and the Finnex Planted Plus 24/7's at the back of the tank would that work/be to much light/not enough light?

I think the Finnex Ray 2 should reach the bottom with enough light, (please let me know if you think this is wrong) also since the larger plants will be at the back the Finnex Planted Plus 24/7 should be ok i think. (once again please feel free to disagree)

The tank will run with CO2.

Any thoughts recommendations gratefully received.

sorry if this has been covered many times before (new member)

Thanks again Robert
post number 2


----------



## Robert Johan (Feb 28, 2019)

Supplementary question 
What if i bought another four 48 inch Finnex Planted Plus 24/7's (total 6) would that work?
Love the idea of light on a 24 hour cycle. But if i have to go down another path so be it.

thanks again Robert


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

You have two problems: one is the 30 inch height of the tank, and the other is the 30 inch front to back dimension. I'm pretty sure none of the 48 inch long Finnex lights will give enough light at a 30 inch distance, and I am sure that a single row of lights down the center of the tank won't give enough light over the whole substrate, front to back. I think two rows of the 24/7 version, spaced about a foot or more apart, will work ok, unless you want high light. But, with high light you really would need CO2 also, and getting enough CO2 into that big a tank is no easy job either.


----------



## CJKlok (Oct 7, 2010)

I have been running the combination of the Ray 2 and Planted+ on my tanks for a while and it works really well.

I do, however, run the lights on different schedules. The Planted+ turns on at 7:00 in the morning until 12:00 for a 3-hour siesta. And then from 3:00pm until 8:00pm. The Ray2 goes on at 10:00 until 12:00, and then from 3:00pm until 5:30pm.
This is done for both esthetic and practical (photosynthesis) reasons. The Planted+ (together with CO2 injection) is sufficient to yield maintenance photosynthesis - and the colour spectrum has a better appearance for plant/aquascape viewing. The Ray2 blasts the plants with extra light for a burst of intensive photosynthesis to stimulate vigorous growth - it also prevents most stem plants from growing too gangly (maintains nice compact growth). Furthermore, the Ray2 also does some light penetration to deeper parts in the tanks and to those plants shaded by higher growing stem plants.
If depth penetration is your issue you can double up on lights.

And, yes, the siesta is a controversial lighting tactic. Many say that it is not necessary. I have, however, found, with repeated attempts that the 3-hour 'dark' period starting at noon does indeed reduce the rate of algal growth in my scapes. Most notably greenspot algae. That, of course, does not absolve you from keeping general algal prevention practices (CO2, fertilizing, maintaining dense growth etc.) in place.


----------



## Robert Johan (Feb 28, 2019)

Thank you both very much for your replies.

just to give you a little background. I left the hobby over 15 years ago when we moved into a smaller house. I had a community tank (some easy plants) some breeding tanks for Kribs one large tank for my Red Devils, all sold or given to friends.

Had a concrete slab (3metres by 6metres) poured under the house for a man cave so thought i'd get back into the hobby. My wife doesn't want tanks all over the house again so i thought one large one. Definitely bit off more than i can chew but i'm loving being back and researching everything. 

Saw some planted community tanks and thought they looked fantastic, so i thougth i'd head down that path. So much to learn but no rush in setting the tank up, will need to do some overtime at work to pay for everything lol. I'm sure there will be plenty of mistakes along the way and plenty of questions as well.

I feel the plants in my tank will be as important as the fish. One idea i had is i could raise the substrate, instead of 2 inches make it 4 or 5 inches in places. Using ADA aquasoil and i know I'll need heaps but with some careful aquascaping (not all the tank will be planted) it should be ok.

Thanks for the heads up on running CO2 i'll start looking into it. 

Anyway thanks again for the feedback please keep it coming 
(i.e your crazy sell the tank buy a bar fridge and dart board)

rgds Robert


----------

