Need help on lgith fixture type

[hoangben]

Hi everyone,
I have a 100 gallon tank, 48x18x30 high, what is the best type of light for this tank size,

My tank:
10 discus
2 clown loach
2 synodontis catfish
20 tetras
sand substrate
not to much plants

I want a light that will bring out the colors of the fish!!!
Was looking at the Oddysea T5 HO light fixture. It includes:
2x Odyssea 54W T5 High Output Daylight 12000K
2x Odyssea 54W T5 High OutputActinic Blue
4x Dual Bluemoon LED
Any comments is greatly appreciated...

[Eddie]

Hey there, I am definitely not a planted/light expert but I would skip on the 12000K and actnic bulbs. I find 6700K colormax bulbs to bring out the color of the fish and plants much much better. Hard to beat IMO

Maybe another person can chime in.

All the best,

Eddie

[bs6749]

If you are trying to grow plants you should look for bulbs with Kelvin ratings between 5,000k and 10,000k as that is the spectrum of useable light for most plants. The 6,700k bulbs are great for plant growth. Actinics are worthless to plants but they can make your fish look "better", or at least different than under other specttrums. The T5 fixtures would be great for lighting over your tank as they have great penetration for the extra height that your tank has. You will want at least 200W total if you go with T5 lights as that should give you high lighting in a tank that tall. If you go with just the 108W setup you should be able to grow Java ferns, mosses, and crypts with ease. Should be able to grow some stem plants as well that aren't light demanding along with anubias and possibly some swords, though they tend to be needy when it comes to the amount of light in over the tank.