Will this lighting work

I am thinking about purchasing the 36in aquatic life T5 dual lamp fixtures. I wanted to make my 45 gallon tank into a planted tank. Will this be a good light to grow low light/ moderate light plants. I don't want to invest into a co2 system, but I was going to use flourish excel for co2.

 

I'm not a pro by any stretch of the matter on lighting, but I believe it will definitely suffice for low light plants at least. Others, who know more, can address the moderate light plants. I have one 18 watt light for my 29 gallon and I have grown low light plants in it. They don't grow that fast, but they do grow. I use flourish excel co2 and liquid ferts occasionally, once a week, and twice a week at the most.

 

Depends if it's a T5NO (normal output) or T5HO (high output). Which one? High output will give you highlighting or too much light. Normal output will put in low lighting. High output, if you raise it a foot above your tank it will put you around medium light.

https://www.fishlore.com/encyclopediaaquariumplants.htm

 

It would be a high output light

 

That's a great fixture, you can grow anything. But it will give you highlighting sitting on its legs and you mentioned low/moderate plants. Moderate plants would be fine but with that lighting you will also need a balanced fertilizer besides your carbon source, Excel with some fine tuning to find balance. You don't want to grow algae.

 

If I used flourish excel will I be alright on growing moderate plants or do I need to invest into a co2 system.

 

No, you can use Excel.

You'll want some fast growing stem plants like Wisteria, Water Sprite and Bacopa.