How much light?

[dk77]

Hi guys;

Just have a few quick (hopefully) questions about lighting: These question are regarding a FW 220/180 gallon tank that would only contain a few anubias (lanceolata, nana, and barteri) and maby a few java ferns.

1) If I were to get the power compact lighting I want on the tank I would have 384 watts of lighting. Is this much lighting going to cause me to have any problems with algae? (I like to keep the lights on ~12hrs/day)

2) Should I even bother to get that much lighting with only the anubias and java ferns? or should I just get some T5HO? (would bring me down to 156 watts)

Thanks a bunch

Edited March 29, 2008 by dk77

[bosshog]

Buy some good T5HO with individual reflectors. They will put out more light for the amount of energy used. Bulbs are far less expensive and there is more variety in colors/temperatures. I've heard good things about TEK brand, I'm sure there are people on here with the Hagen Glo T5s that will tell you about them too. The T5 will be a bit more expensive upfront but will pay for themselves with energy savings and bulb replacement costs. Good luck.

HTH

[werner]

As much as I love T5HOs, 156W on a 220/180 gallon tank is going to be pretty low lighting. And that's probably a fairly deep tank. But yes, it would do for Anubias and java ferrn- not much else, though.

I'd say go with the 384W PC. This is still a low-moderate amount of light for a tank of that size and depth. You'll have the option to add other plant species down the road. Light isn't the only factor in algae growth, but this should be a fairly safe level unless other things get out of whack.

[dk77]

Thanks for the reply guys. Seems like there are many fans of the T5HO's as I read through yours and some of the old posts. I have done some more shopping and have found a pretty good deal on T5HO's (current usa brand) which would get me up to 312 Watts for the same price as the power compacts. Think I will go with these ones as the bulbs seem a lot cheaper to replace.

Thanks for quelling my algae fears werner, last thing I wanted to do was spend a fortune on lighting only to be scraping my tank every other day