Confused on what range my light is in....Help....

[rainydazs]

hello...
I am totally new to this hobby and have learned a lot here and there plus the kindness of others on this and other boards. BUT... I am being told that i have VERY low light, nooo you have Medium light or just you have regular good ole low light... If I have VERY low light, what can i use to get it up to medium.? I am starting to purchase plants and do not want to waste my dollars on things that will die..

I am piecing together my CO2 unit currently, thanks to members on this board... and I would like to have a medium light tank.. Not high blown tech out tank.. Just want a nice variety of plants and for them to be healthy. I am trying to work with what i have...light wise.

I have a 75 gallon standard tank... 48/18/20
I currently have 48" PC fixture with two 65 watt 6500/10000 PC bulbs, plus a single (1) T8 Sunshine 32 watt bulb. Do i need to ditch this and just get the T5 set up? even NO? Or what level is this? and if I added the 95 watt would that help me...?

Thanks so much in advance,
Michelle...

 

[Gerryd]

Hi and welcome,

It is hard to say what level you are at without using a PAR meter that measure light the same way across all types of lighting fixtures. Since we don't have one, we have to guess

I personally think that the PC fixture you have will be fine and you may not need the T8 bulb unless it covers a section of the tank that would then be dark????

I would try and work with what you have now and see how that goes. I would spend more $ on your c02 stuff and on your plants and fish of course!

You can always change the lights, but higher light will cause more growth, more trimming, and more demand for c02 and other nutrients, so there is a trade off.

I would say that you had medium light if you absolutely held a gun to my head lol

But, the plants will tell you eventually if conditions are right.

I see no reason that the fixture you have will not work for your stated goals..

 

[gmartins]

Hi,

I'm not quite experinced here but from what i have read aroung this forum you have quite a medium/high light (~2.16watt/gallon).

As argued around, the watt per gallon is just a rule of thumb cause it varies with both the size of the tank and the type of light. Still, I believe that you still have quite an amount of light to grow most plants.

Make sure you do read about the light-CO2-nutrients relationships. There a lot of it around in this forum.

Hope this helps,

GM

 

[rainydazs]

Thank you both.... I feel better now..

I will leave it alone and concentrate on my CO2 gathering..

Thanks again..
Michelle

 

[darkoon]

I have 2x55w PC over my 72G, i have no problem growing Tonina fluviatilis and Syngonanthus which are supposed to be high-light plants.