Reyloads

Hello all,
Slowly but Surely I have been building up my tank to where I want it so far. I have a 40 gallon tank that has a good oxygen system and CO2 system. Now all I need is a decent lighting system before I can buy my plants. I plan on buying plant like Cabomba and Madagascar lace and some type of grassy ground cover. I have never experimented with different light combination or any thing like that. All i know is a need a light source with a high watt output. Will I get by with a single light fixture? or should I get a double? What kind of lights should I use?

Steen16

Depends what the plants require, its usualy 1.5w per gallons you could probly find out what you need from doing the maths.. witch im not gonna do coz il get it wrong haha

cpk

Hi get a quality fitting with t5 type tubes high output and more efficient.I run 1 lamp for plant growth and one to bring out fish colour and 1 for illumination at the same time on 55gal.I have an actinic blue which i run alone before sleep so i can watch some interesting behaviour even though that one is primarily designed for marine IMO it works well and looks great at night before i turn them off

Steen16

This is all well and good but if he wants to run a good healthy planted tank proply a lot less light is required for most plants..