David C

I posted elsewhere before I saw this forum... oops. I'm looking for some proper sized lights for my 55g. I have 2 18" 15w flourescent's in now and that's not nearly enough wattage for the plants I wanna have. Any idea where I can find proper sized bulbs and not break the bank? And... what kind of bulbs should I look into, hopefully I can get away w/o buying entirely new fixtures.

lilsoccakid

i have a 55gal that i recently planted, and this is what i bought

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...0&pcatid=16770

it was on sale for 100 at the time, but $120 is pretty cheap to get into t-5 lighting.

because t-5 penetrates the water more deeply, the 108watt fixture will give you a 2.4 WPG rating

hope this helps!

ps. sry, but the standard 18'' fixtures will need to be replaces, because they dont go over 15 watts

David C

Do you think leaving the 18" bulbs on for 18hrs a day will provide enough light for the plants until I can buy the proper setup, or should I replace the current bulbs with the 18" 15w plant bulbs that ive seen? I dont know if theres anything I can do on the cheap to get me by for a month or so until the wife approves the bigger purchase

lilsoccakid

18 hours of light would not be very good for the fish though. i wouldnt get the plant bulbs, as they are the same watts, and wont help too much. i would just save up till you can by a stong light

David C

Thanks for the info, I thought it sounded like a dumb idea myself. I guess I'll just have to grin and bear it for now.