FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Hey Guys,

I'm still in the building/setup stage of my 50 Gal freshwater tank.

I wanted to know would 4x 48" Phillips TLD Aquarelle tubes be ok to use in my tank or will it be an over kill? A LFS has them on special for this week.. so l was thinking of getting them.

They say there are a 10,000K rating and are good for plants and fish.

My tank size is 48" x 14" x 18"

Also l want to grow some nice plants.

Hi,
Many consider 10K lights to be the upper end of the "K"
range for freshwater planted aquariums. You may find that
you are providing way too much light and could have a
severe algae problem.

I think you might be better off runnint bulbs around
6700 to 8800K.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks a heap for that Frank. just saved me a few $$$

sharkbait,

I think the 48" Phillips TLD Aquarelle have 36w, right?

That would give you about 2.77wpg for all 4 lights combined (based on your measurements you have about 52US Gallons).

That would be loads of light, no matter if the K rating is 10,000 or 6,700. If you plant to use this much light you might want to consider CO2 injection to utilize the light for the plants and not the algae. Is that in your plan?

Given that you say Frank saved you $$$, what is your current light plan? What plants would you like to grow?

Sorry for all the questions,

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi Ingo,

I always thought that 10,000K is an over kill for what l'm going to have. Yes the tank is about 52US Gal, but after the gravel, drift wood etc, l dont think it will be this much. Also the water lever will not be up to the brim, maybe more like 2" below. So in saying that... the tank would be a 48"x 14"x 16".

In regards to the C02. I do have a DIY C02 system from redsea.
http://www.redseafish.com/Product.asp?dir=&amp;catID=112&amp;subID=64&amp;proID=229
This Unit is only good for 160lts, but its better then nothing.

The plants l'm after are low-med type plants.
Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus)
Contortionist Val (Vallisneria sp.)
Cuban Broad Leaf Chain (Echinodorus quadricostatus)
Narrow Leaf Chain Sword (Echinodorus tenellus)

You still think its worth while buying these lights?
When l meant by saving a few $$$, l meant l'm glad l didnt just jump into buying something l would not have been able to use.

Any more Q's.... fire away

Sharkbait,

If you can afford it go for 6,700K lights (at least 2 of the 4). Are the lights 36w each? How about some power compacts instead?

If not, I think for the time being your 10,000k will do, maybe some day when you want additional growth (probably combined with a better CO2 system) you could switch to 6,700K lights. I currently run 2 x 6,700K and 2 x 5,000K lights in my big tank (in case you haven&#8217;t seen it [link=Look Here]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/64425.html?200511130529" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link]), with half the lights coming on only for 3 hours.

You sure have enough light to grow the plants listed, but I know only some of them. I think the Amazon will eventually outgrow your tank, maybe not in the next few months but some time after. Taking it out will be a mess as it develops a serious root system. Vals and Pygmy Chains (Tenellus) will grow nicely.

With so much light and some CO2, have you thought about fertilizer for the plants?

Hope this helps,

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo,

So my best bet would be to buy 2 x 10,000K&#8217;s and 2x 6,700K lights. I didn&#8217;t go the compacts as the setup l have fitted in my hood well and only cost me $90AU (new) for the whole setup. Maybe one day l might go to compacts.

I don&#8217;t really want to go too full on with lights and C02 as this is my first setup with live plants and &#8216;m not sure how l will go maintaining them. I just hope what l have at the moment will keep me going for at least a year or so. Buy the way.. very nice tank.

I heard about the Amazon might be a problem down the track, ut l hope to be on top of it so it doesn&#8217;t cause me too much problems. I want this plant I the tank For my breeding pair of angle (when l get them).

With the Ferts.. l have 3&#8221; or more thick of Iron stone gravel (Iron enriched). This is all l was going to use while putting in a daily dose of RedSea Flora 24 &amp; Flora Gro.

You think this would be ok for me without going to extreme?

Sharkbait,

There is never a need to go to the extreme, it is what we do for fun .

I think you would be fine. Do you have your lights on at least 2 switches? I think it would be advisable to have &#189; the lights on for only a few hours a day, otherwise you have too much light (algae).

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hey Ingo,

All lights have their own timer. The plan was to set it up having one come on very hour then all four for a few hours then one off every hour or so. Basically trying to setup a sunrise - sunset situation.

Well looks like might just have to go down to the LFS and get 2x 10,000k tubes this weekend.