[Imacat]

I would like to have moderate light in my tank. I have a 50 gallon tank(4 feet long).
It has stock light fixtures.

Light bulb- Aqueon 8k full spectrum daylight , 15W 120V 18inch
24'' florescent aquarium reflector, 120 volt,19 watt,60 hz

Do I need to buy a whole new setup or just a bulb ? I cant find anything online,i'm assuming I am just not using the the correct words.

 

[beaslbob]

I would like to have moderate light in my tank. I have a 50 gallon tank(4 feet long).
It has stock light fixtures.

Light bulb- Aqueon 8k full spectrum daylight , 15W 120V 18inch
24'' florescent aquarium reflector, 120 volt,19 watt,60 hz

Do I need to buy a whole new setup or just a bulb ? I cant find anything online,i'm assuming I am just not using the the correct words.

I use 6500k 4' shop lights on my 4' long tanks. you could checkjout home depot/lowes.

see: Lithonia Lighting 2-Light White T12 Fluorescent Shoplight-1233 SHOPLIGHT at The Home Depot

and
Commercial Electric Basic 2-Lamp Hanging Fluorescent White ShopLight-CESL401-06 at The Home Depot


I believe the second one has an electronic ballast. FWIW

my .02

 

[Imacat]

So if i go with a new light fixture, I see a 4 foot long hanging florescent light t8, If I have 100 watts of light 2 WPG(IK it not a good rule now) would I NEED CO2 injection because of the high watts/lighting??

 

[beaslbob]

So if i go with a new light fixture, I see a 4 foot long hanging florescent light t8, If I have 100 watts of light 2 WPG(IK it not a good rule now) would I NEED CO2 injection because of the high watts/lighting??

2 tubes of 40watts is 80 watts for 1.6 wpg.

If you use 2 fixtures of the 32 w t-8 tubes that would be 4x32=128 watts.

(use 6500k tubes also)

I have used those levels and not used co2.

I also (althought you can) do not use the hanging feature. I just placed the fixtures on plastic 1/4 square grids (egg crate) sold as lighting diffusers for dropped ceilings. Or just a couple of 2x4's at the ends. Or just attached to an existing hood.

for substrate I used 1" peat moss with 1" of play sand on top to trap in the peat moss. I also use a red baked clay (pc select) from pro choice on top of those.

I found the peat moss prevents kh and gh build up and neon tetras (and probably others) did much better that just a straight sand substrate. gh and kh rose to very high levels with just sand.

I also use no mechanical filtration or circulation of do no water changes. Just replace evaporative water with straight untreated tap.


my .02

 

[Imacat]

Thank you for all the info ! In your experience ,if i get around 100WPG would I be good with just standard bulbs or would I have to buy the growlight bulbs? Would like amazon sword plants !

 

[Boredomb]

If all you are wanting is Amazon swords there is no need in that much light. A dual 48" T8 will be more then enough for those plants. Using GE or another brand of lights that are around 6500k will work no problem. I ran that setup on my 55 gallon tank..

 

[Imacat]

Well I want a full planted tank. All the plants I want are low-Mod light. . But if that is all I need then ,alright!

 

[Boredomb]

When I ran that setup I was able to grow moderate light plants as well. The picture under my name is one of the setups using that type of light as you can see it is fully planted. Unless you get into high light plants you shouldny have any problems.

 

[Imacat]

High light plants.. That's further down the road lol. I will just use your set up then ! Thank you for the information !!