PlanetCatfish.com

Hi all
in my house i have a 100 gall 24 x 24 x 48 tank and my problem is that i can never grow plants the way i see them in books or even on this site .i would love to have a lush planted tank bu t usualy end up with algi covered amozan swords and little else.
what kind of lighting would suit a 24 inch deep tank.
cheers flash

Standard flourescent tubes will not penetrate more than about 18" of water, so if you want a planted tank to work you are going to have to use overhead lights. Now, i'm not sure if the new T5 tubes are that much better, but if not, then the best bet would have to be metal halide. These come as single lamps (you would probably need at least 2, possibly 3), or there are other over-tank systems too.
I've been out of the retail side for some time, so am sure things have changed lots on the lighting front, so maybe Metal Halide is not needed anymore, but it's a start. As I said, probably look at the T5 tubes first. If you want plants to really grow, you need light, CO2 and lots of patience!
Good luck
Martin

How "deep" lights go will depend on how intense the light is. The metal halides usually come in more of a spot-light shape than the standard flourescents.

Another thought is to plant your plants on a raised bed of some sort, e.g. pots on top of caves, Anubias attached to wood, etc. And of course, tall plants that have the leaves higher up would also help a bit.

--
Mats

Halides are your best option. They look stunning, with that natural sunlit shimmering effect you can't get with tubes.

The optimum colour temperature of the bulb is 10,000K

They get hot, so need to be well ventilated.

If you want any kind of reasonable plant growth, you will need CO2.

Halides without CO2 is a recipe for algae!