crispy0

http://www.oceanicsystems.com/produc...near-strip.php
is this a good light for my 29 gallon community tank. i want to have some pretty lush planting

DPmom26

Just from what I can pick up from the site sounds like it would be a good one for your plants, never know though someone else might know a better one than that

mathas

As with most lighting questions, it depends on what plants you want. The Oceanic website doesn't seem to provide a lot of info, but if I recall correctly, a 30" T5 bulb is 18W... so with two of them, 36W over 29g will give you 1.2 WPG.

1.2WPG is certainly enough for some decent growth, as long as you stick to plant species that don't require a ton of light. Anything off of these lists would probably work:

http://plantgeek.net/plantguide_list...=1&filter_by=3
http://plantgeek.net/plantguide_list...=1&filter_by=2

crispy0

actualy it says it has 65watt bulb and the pink 6,700 K bulb

mathas

Where do you see that at? I just did a search on the page you linked to, and the only time the number 65 appears is in the UPC codes.

crispy0

Nova Extreme T5HOx2 | Current What's Next

OOPS I THINK IT WAS THIS 1 MY BAD

crispy0

http://current-usa.com/novaextremet5hox2.html

OOPS I THINK IT WAS THIS 1 MY BAD

mathas

That fixture puts out 48W... you may not see great results with plants that have a high lighting requirement, but 1.65WPG is more than sufficient for good growth if you choose plants suited to that approximate level of lighting.

Have you made any decisions yet on what type of plants you're looking at?

crispy0

wouldnt it be okay to put in 2, 48 watt bulbs though

anyway this is my first planted tank and i dont want anything too hard or messy. just some regular pruning maintenance. somethings like java fern, assorted anubias, crypticorn retrospiralus and crypticorn walkeri and some sort of foreground(no clue what , suggestions welcome) and some mosses like flame or willow

cerianthus

Should not increase the wattage on any ballast unless upgrade ballast to accomodate the boost..
Your fixture will handle 2 of 24W/ea bulbs. so total output being 48W. It seems it comes with necessary bulb for majority of plants you want to keep.
You maybe able to find used one (same or equivalents) much cheaper on CL, just replace the bulbs. Compared the price.

crispy0

whats CL?

Wyphy

I also have a 29G and wanted to upgrade my lighting.
Nova Extreme SLR T5HO, the 30" freshwater, is what I just bought (got it today), and it looks nice over my just filled tank. Much better than the 17W T8 I had.

Just last week I decided to go with live plants, and I also considered the Coralife fixture, but since I really wanted to have a larger variety (potential at least) of plants, I opted for the HO.

The WPG rules and calculations seem to be different depending on who's answering. I know it has changed as the newer technologies have evolved, so that's part of the issue.
I've seen the recommended wattages for low-mid-high light tanks, and I've seen the 'correction' factors too, like T8=W*1.1, T5=W*1.3, T5HO=W*2, etc. And I've never seen any mention of whether to use the actual amount of water in the tank or the nominal size.
I have 48W of T5HO light, over my 29G tank, but it only has about 25G in it, so what's my WPG? I know that the actual is 48/~25 = 1.92WPG.
What's my effective WPG for plants?
1.65, 1.92, 2.15, 2.49, 3.69, 3.91?
There is quite a large difference there. That's pretty much the full range from a low-mid light to a high light tank.

crispy0

what kind of plants will u be using

cerianthus

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