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Hi Folks

Ok, in my existing 40g I have two 3ft light strips.
One is 96w coralife compact flour with reflector, the 2nd is a regular 40w coralife flourescent with reflector so 136w or roughly 3.4 wpg on a 14 inch high tank. I lowered the photoperiod since it became a bit much lol. One thing I enjoyed is the bottoms of the plants did not get stringy due to lack of light penetrating to the substrate

I'm upgrading to a 75g tank which is 21 inches height.
My plants are low requirement wondering if my existing lights would maintain my plants (it would = 1.8 wpg in the the 75), or should I get a 4ft power compact T5 High Output ? I think they start at 150w which would be 2wpg, but higher intensity then the existing.

Or should I try my lighting for awhile when the 75 is set up and see how it goes first ?

My plants are:

Jungle Val (Vallisneria americana)
Vallisneria natans v. ‘Thread-Leaf’
Red Rubin Sword (Echinodorus Rubin)
Ozelot swords - reddish
Echinodorus angustifolius (like vals)
Downoi (Pogostemon helferi)
Java Fern ‘Wendelov’ (Lace)
Crypt wendtii ‘Mi-Oya’
Crypt wendtii ‘Tropica’
Crypt becktii

Crypts and downoi will be my carpet plants.

Thanks in advance for any advice

If I should upgrade to T5 HO, I understand the regular wpg rule does not apply since the light is more intense ?

The Amazon Nut...

Hi Guy,
Coral life makes a series of bulbs, and the "name" of the
bulb would be of great help. Stick with the SUNLIGHT
or DAYLIGHT bulbs.
Generally speaking you have the right idea.
I don't think that you need to change over
to T-5 bulbs. The initial expense is large, and they can
be more expensive to replace.

With the taller tank, and the deeper water column, you
could increase the Kelvin rating of the bulbs to the
8800K and maybe the 10,000K range. I'd try the 8800K ones
first.

I'm not a big fan of "bullying" the light down to the
surface of the gravel by increasing the wpg. That can too
easily lead to a huge algae problem. I'm more in favor of
sticking to the wpg necessary for the plants, and then
using the proper Kelvin rating bulb for better penetration
through the water column.
I'm not sure that I'd class all of those plants as
"low light." With the two that you want to grow into your
carpet, you might want to increase the wpg to 2 watts per
gallon, and perhaps even 2.5wpg. You are going to want to
get the light energy down to the surface of the gravel for
those plants to thrive.


Frank

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

I am with Frank. I would first try using what you already have and see how it works before spending the cash on something you might not need.

If you have straight pin bulbs you could try these..

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=15381&cmpid=aff-_-ls-_-Fish-_-GE%20Compact%20Fluorescent%20Straight%20Pin%20Bulb&ref=3665&subref=AA&GCID=C12188x007 I guess the red color is really nice.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Great suggestion to try 10,000k

They're all 6700k. If I get at home depot I always go with high noon, daylight deluxe etc..

My 6700k bulb is about due for replacement. Here's what I'd need to make it 10,000k.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+8068+13313&pcatid=13313

The regular flourescent is a Life-Glo 2 30w T10. I thought was a 40w I'd look to up that to 10,000k as well.

If I do that think I'll be ok ? I've never heard of or seen 8800k bulbs will have to search around more & see what can be found. What makes the 8800k better ? Which is brighter ? Would you know of a reliable source that ships ?

Thanks for the link Wings, there may be a couple other things I'd like to get at Fosters as well







The Amazon Nut...

Hi, I agree with the others that you should see whether the units you have work for you. If they don't, then you can upgrade.

I know you are thinking of adding discus to the tank, which means you shouldn't let the temperature go below 28 degrees Celsius (82 Fahrenheit). All that plants you have chosen should be fine with 28. (You probably thought of this, but you'll also have to consider the temp in regards to tank mates too).

Some of those plants show red leaves. You may find in low light, the red colour doesn't happen. Iron might help in some case, but most red plants stay green in lower lights. They are still nice though. I never had luck with Downoi in my tanks. Only tried it once & since it is rare & costly in Australia, I didn’t try it a 2nd time. It was probably just me, 'cause tropica says it's okay at the discus temps. I suspect for low, compact growth to form a nice carpet, that may require high light. I can’t say this for sure, but I have a feeling that in lower light it may try to reach for the stars, so to speak.

Have fun in your planning.

Cheers
TW

"Hi, I agree with the others that you should see whether the units you have work for you. If they don't, then you can upgrade."

That is the plan, going to get the cf bulf from dr f&s,
where to find a replacement for the T10 still have to search. Also I've learnt having them right against the glass builds up too much heat, shortening the life of the bulb. I'll have to put something under to raise the strips up, or get those leg thingies.

The 40g is all SA fish right now, and some mts snails. They're used to 78-80 F, I'd have to ease them up to the higher temp to avoid discomfort.

I bought downoi right after it was cool (and expensive)
The price around here is not the goldmine it was.
The trick for downoi - treat them like crypts, only a touch more sensitive. They like consistency in water values and temp. I almost had a carpet going, then they died back. Hoping to get those going strong again !


The Amazon Nut...

Hi,
Back from our weekend off.
I have the same type of CFL in my tank, 2x65watts over a
30G tank.
My current bulbs are 8800K, square pin configuration and
I got them from DrsFosterSmith. I'd give them a phone
call and talk with the person on the ordering desk. They
have access to a larger array of products than are
published in their catalogs or the on-line site.

I suggested the 8800K bulbs because your water column
is not two feet deep. Two feet seems to be the point at
which one needs to increase the K rating to get the energy
to the gravel surface. 10,000K is the beginning of the
bulbs for saltwater use and can climb to 50,000K.
10,000 is generally the "top end" of the bulbs used for
freshwater, planted tanks. As you reach the higher Kelvin
ratings, the light given off has more and more "blue" to it
and that can wash out the greens of plants to the human
eye. I'd try the lower K rating first and see how it
looks, and especially, how the plants react before jumping
all the way up to 10,000K.

http://www.1000bulbs.com/pg/KelvinTempExplained/

Frank

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

Hope you enjoyed your weekend off

Thanks for the great tip I will call them soon and check for the 8800k ! I haven't dealt with them before, want to compare price of the canister with a store I know before,
but there's a few other things on the list already.



The Amazon Nut...

Hi Frank

Drs Foster$Smith also have an online chat !

"Thank you for holding. I apologize, however, we do not have any compact fluorescent square pin bulbs that are rated 8800 K."

She also did not know who was supplying them with the bulbs previously, and suggested I do a google search to locate the bulbs.

Any chance you saved an invoice and have the drs f&s part number, and make of bulb ?

Thanks



The Amazon Nut...

Hi,
Sorry you struck out. I see that they do have a 8000K
bulb but in the straight pin configuration.

No, I don't have the receipt any longer.

Try this:
http://www.seaquestmarine.com/65w_8800K_Power_Compact_Bulb_p/cslpc_880065w.htm

http://www.marineandreef.com/Compact_Fluorescent_Aquarium_Lighting_Lamps_Fixtures_s/4.htm

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=73

There are others but here are three sources.

Frank

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

I've ordered it, for approx $31. CDN, inc shipping

It's the 96w one I needed.
http://www.seaquestmarine.com/96w_8800K_Power_Compact_Bulb_p/cslpc_880096w.htm

Thanks so much Frank !

The Amazon Nut...

Hi,
Thank You, I'm glad I could help.
Don't forget... the mandatory pictures to show the
results.

Frank


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

You have yourself a deal !

I'll get a couple shots of the 40g before stuff starts getting transferred. Also some of the 75g as it's taking shape

I'll be cottaging this weekend, hopefully won't be too chilly and I can get in some bass fishing. Now that I think of it, there may still be some saggiteria in there....

The Amazon Nut...