Power compact lighting for a planted freshwater tank

[EliWhitney314]

I have a friend who is willing to sell me a four stripped power compact light with two lunar lights for 150. It has only been used for a year, but he has a new hood for his new tank.

The real question is would this be good for a planted tank with neons, rummy nosed tetras, corydoras adolfoi, and a severum? I don't want it to be too bright, but I think a little more light would be just fine. Right now I have a t-5 douple lighted hood with a regular hood that came with the new tank. Should I do it?

[EliWhitney314]

I think this is the exact light.

http://www.marinedepot.com/lighting_pow ... ar-ap.html

[L number Banana]

Hi,
If it's a really good deal, It might be worth snapping up for a future tank but the real question is - how's your tank doing now with the lights it has? If everything's doing well and you like the look, I would just continue to change the bulbs (one at a time) as they begin to dim. You can always change out one of the bulbs for a 'plant' light etc if you think they're not getting enough. Remember that flourescent lights get dimmer as they get older.

I've changed mine for lower energy halogens. It's not as bright or as uniform as cf's give but the plants are still growing well and the 'spot' type lights give a nice watery look and reflection. Gives me a better 'underwater' look with ripples and shadows. My heater doesn't come on as often because they get so hot but I guess that might be mimicking natural day/night temp changes? Not sure about that

How old are your t5's? perhaps just replacing them might be okay?

[EliWhitney314]

My t-5 is fine, it's just that the compact light has four bulbs and 2 lunar lights for night viewing, and it's a great price.

[L number Banana]

2 lunar lights for night viewing,

Yeah, that is tempting.

[nvcichlids]

First of all, your tank is not well set up. The sev will kill the neons. The sev will also eat the plants. Now as far as the recommendation goes for the lighting, I would do it in a heart beat. My 45 tall tank needs more light and it currently has a 70 watt power flourescent running through it. If you are going for a planted tank, the more power the better. I once had a 2.5 gallon tank that had 86 watts of light. It helped me get all the java moss I could ever need in very little time.

[WhitePine]

how big is the tank? If you are approaching 4 watts per gallon, you will need to add co2 or you will run into lots of algae problems.

[EliWhitney314]

75 gallon

48"x18"x20"