What's the best light for my fish tank?

[thanhthui]

i have a 180 fish tank, that's about 72 inches long, 2 ft wide and 2f tall. i wanted to put some plants in with my disus. could i use 4 bulbs -- t5 54 watt, that's 4 ft long? and i also have a fixture with three 4 ft long 10000k bulbs and it is has 2 strong metal halide bulbs, can i use this light for my plants and discus? please help me, thanks!

[DiscusKev]

Discus don't like strong lighting, it doesn't do their colour justice.

[TonyAPBTx]

I use a T5 in my 180 gallon that covers the lenth of the tank. Plants do well and the fish don't seem to mind.

I do however have parts of the tank that are shaded, but the discus don't seem to prefer those parts except for at night when they sleep.

[Discus master]

I use a T5 in my 180 gallon that covers the lenth of the tank. Plants do well and the fish don't seem to mind.

I do however have parts of the tank that are shaded, but the discus don't seem to prefer those parts except for at night when they sleep.

Just one T5 then? no other lighting for plant growth? I asume it is a T5 HO fixture correct? what is the wattage on that and what type of plants are you growing?

I find it interesting as I am a plant newibe researching lights and what I need to grow what and so forth,, and it still seems I am getting the old watt per gallon rule which does not really work with T5's and with refelectors and so forth. I learned its not really the wattage that counts and that rule was for the older T12's

So I am courious as to what plants that say they are medium to high light will do under T5HO lighting with a lower wattage.

I think my ultimate goal would be to use the most efficeint T5HO with a good refelctor the lowest wattage you can go while still maintaing a healthy medium light requriment plants you know?

[Darrell Ward]

i have a 180 fish tank, that's about 72 inches long, 2 ft wide and 2f tall. i wanted to put some plants in with my disus. could i use 4 bulbs -- t5 54 watt, that's 4 ft long? and i also have a fixture with three 4 ft long 10000k bulbs and it is has 2 strong metal halide bulbs, can i use this light for my plants and discus? please help me, thanks!

I wouldn't use the MHs. It likely would grow hellish algae. Personally, I don't like the expense of t5s, they charge top dollar for them, allthough you certainally can use them, and they work great. 2-55 watt PCs from AH supply with 7800k lamps would be my choice for a 180. Yeah, I know, they are kinda old school these days. But, you can get the retro kits dirt cheap, and they work great on 24" deep tanks. Spread the reflectors at equal distances on the tank, and you're good to go.

[Discus master]

I wouldn't use the MHs. It likely would grow hellish algae. Personally, I don't like the expense of t5s, they charge top dollar for them, allthough you certainally can use them, and they work great. 2-55 watt PCs from AH supply with 7800k lamps would be my choice for a 180. Yeah, I know, they are kinda old school these days. But, you can get the retro kits dirt cheap, and they work great on 24" deep tanks. Spread the reflectors at equal distances on the tank, and you're good to go.

what or who is AH supply, and with regard to the PC's are you talking the quad units or what? what type of fixture do you need to run those? Home Depot Lowes bought fixtures are the regular type of socketts or what I know a good deal about the T5's not so much the PC's I do like the fact there more compact but I like the T5 because they are linear and low heat, also why are you recomending the 7800K bulbs? I though the 6,500K or 6,700K and the 10K where kind of the "choice" bulbs for the planted tank what with the 7800K just preference or do you find they work better for one reason or another?
Thanks in advance.

[waj8]

I have 6 54 watt lamps over my 120 gallon tank. The Discus don't seem to mind at all. They have lots of shade from plants if they choose but usually they don't. Sunlight is much brighter than this lighting so I don't think it's too much. Here is a video of what it looks like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aZf01V6Rok. Keep in mind that these are not high quality Discus but they still seem happy enough.

[Darrell Ward]

what or who is AH supply, and with regard to the PC's are you talking the quad units or what? what type of fixture do you need to run those? Home Depot Lowes bought fixtures are the regular type of socketts or what I know a good deal about the T5's not so much the PC's I do like the fact there more compact but I like the T5 because they are linear and low heat, also why are you recomending the 7800K bulbs? I though the 6,500K or 6,700K and the 10K where kind of the "choice" bulbs for the planted tank what with the 7800K just preference or do you find they work better for one reason or another?
Thanks in advance.

http://www.ahsupply.com/ Nothing fancy. Just 2 x 55 watt compact fluorescent fixtures. These are complete retrofit kits. With these reflectors, this is all the light you'll need. I have tried the 96 watt kits on 6' tanks, and frankly, it's too much. Algae will compete with plant growth. The 55 watters are much better. You can either use an old housing you already have with these kits, or it's very easy to make one out of a couple of 1"x 4" boards or something similar. I like the 7800k bulbs because they show off fish colors better than the others, but will still grow plants if that's what you want. I see that AH supply also has T5s now. I can't comment on those, because I haven't used them. Below is 2x55 watt with 7800k bulbs in a dark room. The lights are hung 6" above the tank to reduce the intensity on my 240 gal. pbass grow out tank. It's worth noting this tank is 30" deep. No plants, but I've had plants in it before with adult discus. The light was resting on top of the tank then.

[Herbicidal]

I have 6 54 watt lamps over my 120 gallon tank. The Discus don't seem to mind at all. They have lots of shade from plants if they choose but usually they don't. Sunlight is much brighter than this lighting so I don't think it's too much. Here is a video of what it looks like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aZf01V6Rok. Keep in mind that these are not high quality Discus but they still seem happy enough.

I like it! I take it you are running CO2 as well?

[waj8]

CO2 and all other fertilizers are a must at that light level.

[pcsb23]

i have a 180 fish tank, that's about 72 inches long, 2 ft wide and 2f tall. i wanted to put some plants in with my disus. could i use 4 bulbs -- t5 54 watt, that's 4 ft long? and i also have a fixture with three 4 ft long 10000k bulbs and it is has 2 strong metal halide bulbs, can i use this light for my plants and discus? please help me, thanks!

I'd avoid the MH bulbs unless you are going for plants that require very high lighting. MH would mean you would need CO2 and regular fert dosing and also a lot of plants else you will soon run into algae probs. MH also cost an arm and a leg to run and get very hot! T5's are great for plants and discus, particularly if you get some Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) and most if not all plants will grow under them.

I have 6 54 watt lamps over my 120 gallon tank. The Discus don't seem to mind at all. They have lots of shade from plants if they choose but usually they don't. Sunlight is much brighter than this lighting so I don't think it's too much. Here is a video of what it looks like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aZf01V6Rok. Keep in mind that these are not high quality Discus but they still seem happy enough.

Very nice tank, love the pearling.

[thanhthui]

Then could i use 4 bulbs, 54 watt (t5 -- 6500K) for my tank? they're about 72 inches long, two feet hight, two feet wide.
- What kind of plants should i use? High Light plants, or Low light plants?

I have another question, a few people have told me that Wet/Dry filters with a sump and overflow box, bulit in it; one for each corner, is bad for the CO2 system for plants? Is that right?

Thanks in advance

[waj8]

54 watt lamps are 4' long and my tank is also 4' long. Your tank is 6' long but the same height and width as mine. 4 54 watt lamps on a 130 is fine. You will be able to grow some medium light plants in the middle and some low light plants on the ends. There is a 5' long HO 80 watt lamp as well. Not sure of the availability in your area. The longer lamps would give you a larger area with the higher light. My fixture is a DIY fixture made from a high bay light fixture. Each lamp has it's own specular reflector. Any fixture designed around that concept should work though. To grow high light plants in your tank you would need 6 t5 HO lamps and only be able to grow the high light plants directly under the fixture.

[pcsb23]

...
I have another question, a few people have told me that Wet/Dry filters with a sump and overflow box, bulit in it; one for each corner, is bad for the CO2 system for plants? Is that right?

Thanks in advance

Yep, pretty much, the water cascading into the sump will drive off CO2. With 4x54W T5's on your size tank you should not need CO2, even if you do just turn the wick up a bit. You will use a little more CO2 but it is not expensive imo.

[waj8]

I use an overflow box and sump. No problem with the CO2 at all. Probably depends on the amount of turbulence introduced with the built in overflows. It would be hard to modify them being built in. I think overflow boxes could be a better solution. Ideally, use CO2 with a pH controller. Good for fish and plants. I use DIY CO2 but I have a lot of experience with that sort of thing and have it pretty well figured out.