Lighting Suggestions For A 55g Tank.

Hello everyone!
I have a 55 gallon (48" x 13" x 21") tank. It has 2, 18" T8 Fixtures that came with the tank when I bought it. I have 2 aqueon Floramax 18" T8 bulbs, 1 on each fixture and my plants are doing well.

I wish to move from low light plants to medium light and I want to get it heavily planted. I was wondering if my current lights are enough for medium light plants? (I can't find how many lumens my bulbs emit)
If my bulbs are not enough for medium light plants, my question is: which bulbs should I get? or do I need to get new fixtures and bulbs?
What suggestions do you guys have? and what do you currently use for your planted aquarium?

 

Those T8's will keep you in the low light range. You will need a brighter light, and I would suggest an LED. I like the Finnex Planted Plus original and it would put you in between low and medium, so you could just extend the photo period to 10-12 hours to get more of the medium range of light. But if you go into the medium light range you will need CO2 injection. My opinion is it's best to stick to the low light / low tech tanks unless you want to get into a high tech setup with CO2 injection, regular fert dosing schedule, and additional maintenance/upkeep.

You can have a heavily planted tank with a low light setup. You just need a lot of low light plants. Light doesn't determine the amount of plants you have, it only determines the species of plants. CO2 and nutrients will determine the amount of plants you can keep. In a heavily planted low light tank you would probably need some liquid CO2 substitute like Flourish Excel to keep up with the CO2 needs.

 

Those T8's will keep you in the low light range. You will need a brighter light, and I would suggest an LED. I like the Finnex Planted Plus original and it would put you in between low and medium, so you could just extend the photo period to 10-12 hours to get more of the medium range of light. But if you go into the medium light range you will need CO2 injection. My opinion is it's best to stick to the low light / low tech tanks unless you want to get into a high tech setup with CO2 injection, regular fert dosing schedule, and additional maintenance/upkeep.

You can have a heavily planted tank with a low light setup. You just need a lot of low light plants. Light doesn't determine the amount of plants you have, it only determines the species of plants. CO2 and nutrients will determine the amount of plants you can keep. In a heavily planted low light tank you would probably need some liquid CO2 substitute like Flourish Excel to keep up with the CO2 needs.

Thanks for the quick reply! I do not plan to move into a high tech set-up for now.
I also do not mind having to schedule fertilizer dosing or CO2 injections, so long as I can plant my tank heavily. I love the lighting idea you gave me and I can use it if I stay in a low light/low tech tank, or I decide I can even bump the light on time a bit to get medium light plants.

 

Thanks for the quick reply! I do not plan to move into a high tech set-up for now.
I also do not mind having to schedule fertilizer dosing or CO2 injections, so long as I can plant my tank heavily. I love the lighting idea you gave me and I can use it if I stay in a low light/low tech tank, or I decide I can even bump the light on time a bit to get medium light plants.

High tech tank = CO2 injection, scheduled fertilizer dosing, water testing, higher powered lights
Low tech = no CO2 injection with occasional fertilizing, low light, easy to maintain

 

Hello everyone!
I have a 55 gallon (48" x 13" x 21") tank. It has 2, 18" T8 Fixtures that came with the tank when I bought it. I have 2 aqueon Floramax 18" T8 bulbs, 1 on each fixture and my plants are doing well.

I wish to move from low light plants to medium light and I want to get it heavily planted. I was wondering if my current lights are enough for medium light plants? (I can't find how many lumens my bulbs emit)
If my bulbs are not enough for medium light plants, my question is: which bulbs should I get? or do I need to get new fixtures and bulbs?
What suggestions do you guys have? and what do you currently use for your planted aquarium?

SORRY HOW DO U MAKE A TREND AGAIN

 

SORRY HOW DO U MAKE A TREND AGAIN

What?

 

I have a 55 gallon with both low and medium light plants with a 2 bulb Coralife fixture and my plants are doing well.Now I have a 29 gallon that is planted with similar plants with a Finnex LED 24/7 fixture and they seem to not be doing as well.The leaves are turning a little brown Although the 29 is going through the early stages of cycling I never had that problem with the 55.I`m not ready to put the blame on the LED yet.Neither tank has CO2system and I hope I don`t have to do that to have them looking good.

 

I have the new finnex led 24/7 se on my 55 gallon planted tank set on the 24/7 cycle. All of my plants are loving it. Not super fast growth, but steady and all are very healthy. My cryptocoryne plant is growing large leaves that come out very red and slowly change back green.

 

I have the new finnex led 24/7 se on my 55 gallon planted tank set on the 24/7 cycle. All of my plants are loving it. Not super fast growth, but steady and all are very healthy. My cryptocoryne plant is growing large leaves that come out very red and slowly change back green.

I have heard mostly great things about them, there have been cases where plants don't grow as well but people don't seem to blame the fixtures themselves so I'm assuming they're pretty good, I have mostly heard that they work great and they look really nice also! I shall be getting the new fixture after I make a new stand for my 55 gallon tank. I love the idea of LED fixtures with multiple colors and modes, I love hearing of others experience using them!