Horrid Lighting In New 125 Gallon

[Dovah]

Good morning, everyone! I hope you are well!

So a little backstory here, I've got a 150 gallon (48" x 24" x 30") with a 48" light fixture that houses two side by side 80 watt T8 bulbs and a reflector in the fixture. I get very good lighting with this. This fixture came with the tank, stand and canopy.

I got my 125 gallon (72" x 18" x 22") a couple of weeks ago and the lighting was atrocious, I could hardly see through to the back. It had two separate 36" fixtures with one 24" 18 watt T8 bulb per fixture, no reflectors. This also came standard with the tank, stand and canopy.

I figured I would upgrade it so I went online and bought a single 72" fixture, two 36" 30 watt T8 bulbs (it was supposed to have a reflector as well but when it arrived it did not.) This didn't much improve on my situation.

I'm kind of at a loss here because I would like to be able to actually see into my tank, and grow some at least intermediate level plants. Can anyone help me figure out what I need to do here? Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[TexasDomer]

I'd move to T5 HO or LED lights. T8s won't get you into medium light easily.

 

[Dovah]

Thank you so much, this whole thing has been pretty frustrating. I didn't have to worry about the lighting in the 150 at all, and the new fixture was a huge disappointment.

Anything in particular you would recommend? I can do some research today on your suggestions but if you have anything in mind that could point me in a generally good direction I'd really appreciate it!

 

[TexasDomer]

I love my Finnex Planted Plus fixtures, and two 36" fixtures on your tank would do nicely!

 

[Dovah]

Awesome, thanks so much for your help!

Before I buy, are these what you meant @TexasDomer?

 

[TexasDomer]

Yep! Those are the ones!

 

[Dovah]

Fantastic, thanks for the confirmation!

This may sound stupid, but can I continue to use my glass canopy with this light?

 

[TexasDomer]

Fantastic, thanks for the confirmation!

This may sound stupid, but can I continue to use my glass canopy with this light?

Yep! I use glass lids with mine too.

 

[Dovah]

I got my Planted Plus lights last weekend and let me just say a big "Thank you!" for recommending them. They are awesome.

Which leads me to ask: do you think I'd be better off on my other tank with a 48" Planted Plus fixture? The plants in there aren't doing poorly (quite the opposite) but I love the way the LED light illuminates the tank. The lighting is not yellow like my T8 bulbs.

Also, can I leave my LEDs on all the time? I've been using the blue bulbs at night but I notice that the fixtures are pretty hot to the touch.

Thanks so much for any input!

 

[Wolf65]

You could let the blue ones on at night but I use them as a slow wake up for 30 min before switching the full light on and on night after switching off the white light I put the blue on for 30 min.
Never let the whole light run 24 hours....not for the light's sake but for the fish. And you will get algae with too much light as well.
It's quite normal that the LED feel hot at some spots.