Lighting Help! Please

[grindman620]

Hey everyone,

I'm am new here and could really use some advice. I am setting up a new 60 gallon (future discus) planted tank. The plans for now, are to have a low tech setup (1.5-2 watts per gallon) with hearty plants that can withstand the higher temps in the tank. The tank I bought came with 2- 18inch hoods which are not going to cut it for plants in the tank. I am in the market for a new lighting fixture to fit the tank (4 foot long). I would like to hear reccomendations about what you guys use or something you could suggest that is not CRAZY expensive. I understand that I will probably be spending around the $180 mark ( at least). Additionally, I imagine I will need to buy a new hood/cover for the tank? Like an all glass one? Since the tank is divided into two sections what would my options be for this? Just two like 20 inch glass hood/covers?

Thanks guys. Love the site and really have been enjoying reading/viewing your posts here.
-Ryan

[thecoolguy]

marineland double bright leds.....

[jlcoop277]

If you're ok with not having LED. I use 2 48" T8 shop lights from lowes. $12 bucks each and put a grow bulb in each, an Actinic in one and a reg old bulb in the other. All my plants grew without a problem. Have about 60 bucks in it

[Darrell Ward]

Double ended metal halides, and no I'm not suggesting you run reef tank lights. If you tailor the lights to your needs, you get the best bang for your buck without excessive heat and energy use at minimal cost, the ability to easily grow plants, and have a great shimmer effect in the tank. Example, I run 2-70 watt, 6500K metal halides on my 240 gal. wilds tank, hung 8" above the tank, and it works very well. It's not to hot, not too bright, allows a few plants to grow without hassles, and has a great shimmer effect. I only have around $200 in the whole setup...

[grindman620]

Thank you all for your replies here. I am so very new to the planted tank world. I have grown many in the past with decent success, but that was with a smaller tank. I want to make sure that I properly setup my 60 gallon tank. The Marineland LED's look pretty neat, but what kind of drawbacks could/would those have? They seem like a decent price and would last a while (with minimul energy consumption), but I feel like they are not going to provide the wattage I need. I don't plan on having a lighting system hang above the tank (my space isnt equipped for that atm), I would prefer something that can sit above the tank and give my low light plants enough juice. Any more ideas/reccomendations guys?

Keep em coming please! Thank you all for what you have sent so far.

[jlcoop277]

I have mine just laying on the glass tops.

[Darrell Ward]

Well, yeah, you can lay any type of lighting across the tank, but it's certainly not the most efficient way to light the tank. Brackets are easy to make to hang lighting, and can be attached to the tank stand.

[grindman620]

Darrell is that what you did? Attached a bracket onto your tank for the lighting? It's kind of hard to see it in your picture you provided. Do you have more information/pictures of this? The Marineland LED system looks alright, but I think I am going to go a different route. I just dont have a lot of faith that plants can grow well with LED. Let me ask you guys this, do you recommend that I do low tech (low light) plants with discus added down the line? Can you foresee complications with going with mid to high light (with C02) and discus?

[Darrell Ward]

Yes, It's really pretty easy. I just made a frame of 1/2" metal conduit, and fittings from the home improvement store. The frame is held in place with screws and holders ( I don't know what you call those holders, but they are used to attach conduit to the wall) to the back of the stand. You could even run the wiring inside the conduit for a more clean look if you wanted, but I was too lazy, I just zip tied it on. There are other ways to do it, bracket off the wall, etc. Here's an old picture, perhaps you can see it better...

[jlcoop277]

Yeah I would normally have hung them, but knowing the tank wasn't staying were it's at currently I didn't see the point.

[Charles Crews]

Can't go wrong with T-5's problem with MH's are you are very limited to the K ratings available. T-5's are cheap and seems to work very well with planted tanks, thats why my MH's are in the garage!

[grindman620]

Thanks everyone. I wound up going with the AquaticLife T5 HO 2-54W Plant bulb unit. Love it so far....

[Darrell Ward]

Can't go wrong with T-5's problem with MH's are you are very limited to the K ratings available. T-5's are cheap and seems to work very well with planted tanks, thats why my MH's are in the garage!

All you need for plants is 6500K, which you can order online for $20 each. K ratings are not limited at all. Since you have no use for them, and don't know where to get bulbs, send them to me, I'll put them to work.

[texassupra71]

This is great info, going to have to try this.