Light suggestions for 44gal pentagon

[lescarpentier]

Hi!

I have a 44 gallon pentagon tank with pressurized CO2,EI dosing,and 80 watts of PC lighting.

The problem that I am having is leggy growth,and frustratingly slow growth at levels midway down to the substrate.The higher light demanding plants such as Ludwigia Cuba barely survive,and sharply bend towards the light.

I am looking at a Catalina fixture with 6 T-5 HO 24 watt bulbs to replace my Current USA Satellite PC fixture.Is this a good idea? I want to be able to grow just about anything that I want.

Thanks!

 

[VaughnH]

What are the dimensions of the tank - is it an unusually tall one? The deeper the tank the less light you get at the substrate level.

 

[lescarpentier]

It has a 24" depth,3 sides are 13",and 2 sides are 22"

 

[VaughnH]

That general size of tank usually is about 17 inches deep, so yours is 1.4 times as deep. You now have 1.8 watts per gallon, but the added depth means, at the substrate level you have the equivalent of from .9 to 1.3 watts per gallon in a tank of normal geometry. I think you would need at least 120 watts of AH Supply quality lights or at least 100 watts of T5 lights to have moderately high light intensity in that tank. So, I think your idea of using 6 24 watt T5HO lights would work fine. If you wire them so you can turn off a couple of them when you want to, that would work best.

 

[lescarpentier]

Thanks Vaughn!
I ordered the fixture and it is separated with two switches,three lights on each with separate reflectors for each bulb.I'm not sure what my wiring options will be,but at first I plan to run three of the bulbs for the entire photo period with the other three coming on for a few hours somewhere in the middle.With a little experimenting dialing in this fixture it should suit my needs perfectly.

Thanks again for the very clear explanation!!