Lighting fixtures

[dogsare4losers]

Hi guys
I am planting my 75 gal (soon to buy) and have a whole forum on this but I decided to make a separate one for lighting because I know it is complicated.
So I am going for medium maybe medium highish lighting. I am very new to planting so if anyone knows a good site or something I could buy my lights from it would be a huge help! Also I'm guessing I'm going to have to buy a different fixture for it rather than the stock one? I think the wattage I'm going for is 200-250, is this the right wattage for the medium or medium highish lighting? Any ideas for fixtures, bulbs, and whatnot are gladly appreciated!

Thanks guys!

Oh and just ps. I'm not sure on the dimensions of the tank I'm going to buy.

[Osiris]

Well, your right for one, the stock lighting more then likely wouldnt suffice for plants.

The wattage your aiming for seems about right, assuming your looking at Power Compact lighting?
The bulb rating your going to want to run around 6500k, the lower on the kelvin scale you get the more red wavelengths you get which are more beneficial to plants versus your more blue ones(as in higher up on the kelvin scale)

That type of lighting should be good for low/medium light plants i would think, eh JOM?

Do you have an idea as to which species of plants your eyeballing?

[dogsare4losers]

yes I actually have a pretty long list...I posted it in my "planting my 75 G" forum but anyways here it is:

Front:
Pearlweed
(Hemianthus micranthemoides)

Echinodorus tennellus

Dwarf Sagittaria

Cryptocoryne undulata

Middle :
Black Sword plant
(Echinodorus parviflorus)


Anacharis

Ludwigia repens

Hornwort
(Ceratophyllum demursum)

Creeping rush
(Juncus repens)

Rotala rotundifolia

Back:
Corkscrew val
(Vallisneria americana v. 'Biwaensis')

Giant Bacopa
(Bacopa caroliniana)


Aponogeton crispus

Willow leaf hygro
(Hygrophila salicifolia)

Wisteria
(Hygrophila difformis)


So yeah I really do need help on the lighting stuff! Any sites would be great and bulb and fixture ideas!

[JustOneMore20]

Yep, you want a fixture that has bulbs between about 6500K (kelvin) and 10000K. Beyond 10000K, they are really for saltwater. Most power compact freshwater fixtures come with 6700K bulbs.

My suggestions would be:

1) A 260w power compact fixture would be alot of light, if you run all 4 65w bulbs the whole lighting period. You'd definitely need to inject CO2 then. But, if you only run the 2nd set of bulbs for about 4-5 hours a day, I think you'd be fine. Make sure you put alot of plants in the tank, especially the fast growing ones like Bacopa and Wisteria. They will help outcompete the algae.

2) Another option is to get 2 of these T5 HO fixtures. Again, I suggest only running the 2nd fixture for about 4-5 hours. The other can run the whole 8-9 hours. You'll need 2 timers for this, but it will be worth it. They do make 216w fixtures (so you wouldn't have to buy 2), but its more expensive and the ones I've seen come with 2 actinic bulbs, which are for saltwater and would need replacing.

3) If you are on a serious budget, you could use regular fluorescent lighting. Make sure you get some bulbs marked "daylight" or buy some in the range of 6500K to 10000K. This would be the cheapest, but not the best IMO.

75g tanks are hard to get that medium light wattage. But, those fixtures will work.

[dogsare4losers]

I like the top two ideas. Lighting is expensive, as I expected. Lol everything is really. But its all worth it . If i take one of your choices it would most likely be the second. I like those lights but I think I'll check out fluorescent lighting too. See if I can find anything good. Does anyone know any good fluorescent lights?

Thanks AGAIN Justonemore! You've been a big help!

[dogsare4losers]

Ok I read more and am figuring stuff out now

[davercomeau]

I bought a Coralife 260 W lighting fixture. You have the option to two 2 bulb at 130 W or all 4 bulbs for 260 W. For a 75 gallon you should try to run at least 200 W of light. I run 260 W on my 90 gallon and the plants are thriving. By the way, I got my light for $100 cheaper on eBay than in the stores.

[jones57742]

da4l:
(which btw they are not! have you ever had one with you pretty much 24/7?)

The standard 75G tank size is 48"x18"x20".

I am not familiar with all of the plants which you posted but the following are the fixtures which I would purchase either of (not both of).

HQI-MH
Unless you anticipate floating plants (which you may be) I would think about this one long and hard.
The bulbs in this fixture will provide 500W of very high quality 15000K light.
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewIt...t~CU01164.html

PC
If you do not anticipate floating plants then the following may be appropriate.
(Please note that the lunar light will not function as you would believe that it should.)
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewIt...t~CU01016.html
Marine Depot will "change out" the factory installed bulbs with other bulbs.
I recommend two 7100K bulbs and two 10000K bulbs.

Please note that both of these fixtures generate significant heat and although both have cooling fans they are not appropriate for a fully enclosed canopy.

TR

[fishin5]

I would go with one of the things TR mentioned probably the 2nd

[dogsare4losers]

Thanks TR I would take your advice but I already found a tank that costs $150 adn comes with lights and a whole bunch of other stuff...

Thanks to all who helped me!!

[JustOneMore20]

Do not use a metal halide fixture like that over a 75g tank without injecting carbon dioxide. That's an insane amount of light and you'd be growing every kind of algae in the book.


Glad you found the deal! You getting all those tanks and the light that you found on ebay?

[dogsare4losers]

I didn't get the deal
Last second bid beat me to it...

[JustOneMore20]

Oh no! Well hopefully you'll find another good deal out there.

[dogsare4losers]

For lighting my tank I'm just wondering...If I go above 10,000K in my lights would it be bad or just unnecessary? Also what would happen if you lit a freshwater tank with actinic bulbs? Like say I got this: http://cgi.ebay.com/48-Power-Compact...QQcmdZViewItem
Would it work in my aquarium? (I would either run one pair of the bulbs for only 4-5 hours a day or just not use a bulb)

[jones57742]

Originally Posted by dogsare4losers

If I go above 10,000K in my lights would it be bad or just unnecessary?

da4l:

I do not understand "go above 10000K"?

TR

[JustOneMore20]

He means in Kelvin ratings.

Plants use lighting in the 6500 to 10000K range. Above that and plants can't use all of it, so you are kind of wasting that bulb I guess you could say. For the plants to thrive from your lighting, you want to use something in that range.

Actinic bulbs do nothing for plants. The plants don't use that light, so you can't count that in your watts per gallon. A 50/50 bulb (half actinic and half 10000K) would atleast give you half of usable light from that bulb.

You can always replace actinic bulbs for something in the plant range.

That link doesn't work, so I can't see what fixture you are referring to.

[jones57742]

da4l:

Please review the thread cited below as it may be of some real world help.


jom:

Please ref
http://www.fishforums.com/forum/aqua...ted-tanks.html

Your response in this thread would be appreciated.

TR

[dogsare4losers]

Sorry about the link! Here it is I think: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...id=p2759.l1259
I asked the seller if he could replace the 2 actnitic bulbs with some that would work for me and am waiting on the response. I'm about to look into that link TR...

Thanks guys

*Edit: Believe it or not TR I remember reading that entire fourm!

[JustOneMore20]

That fixture would definitely work, but I'd get the bulbs swapped. In the description it says they have 50/50 and 6500K bulbs. I'd try to get 2 6500K bulbs to replace the Actinic and then do the lighting schedule like I described in an above post (2nd set only on for 4-5 hours a day). They should replace them, you'll just have to tell them again when/if you buy it.

[dogsare4losers]

Ok good
That makes me feel good. I know what I need for lighting whether or not I do indeed buy that.

Ok, so the one other thing I'm wondering is just to make sure moonlights don't do anything for your aquarium other than add a complete day/night cycle right?