need help

[oyeabog]

please help, i have never seen a ho t5 on a tank so i cant judge if its enough light for my tank its 18 deep 20 wide 31 high think it a 45gallon.i have a 96 quad on it right now would a t5ho 2x 18 be enough or what do i need .its hard because 20 wide does not have a lot of options. i have pressure co2 .thank you in advance.

[Hoppy]

I don't think you will get enough light even for low light plants with 2 x 18 T5HO. If those are in one fixture you would have low light at the substrate right under the fixture, but the 18 inch depth would make the front and back portions of the substrate be very much under lighted. If you had 4 x 18, and those were spaced 3-4 inches apart, it should work for low light. Or even a pair of 2 x 18, with the fixtures spaced a few inches apart should work. To get high light intensity you will probably need to use a MH-HQI type light, hanging above the tank. The footprint of the tank is almost square, so that should work well with a MH type fixture. I have no idea how much wattage you would need for that-150 watt or more is my guess.

[lauraleellbp]

Yeah, this is a challenging size tank to light for planted... and I think a suspended MH will probably be your best bet. I'd also guess around 150 watts would give you the best results, and you could experiment a bit with height over the tank.

[oyeabog]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

Yeah, this is a challenging size tank to light for planted... and I think a suspended MH will probably be your best bet. I'd also guess around 150 watts would give you the best results, and you could experiment a bit with height over the tank.

thank you both ,but would the mh heat up the tank too much.how about leds like powerbrite from current or some thing like that.

[Hoppy]

You would almost have to design and build your own LED fixture, and the 31 inch height of the tank might force you to use lenses on the LEDs, adding to the cost. If you want a very interesting, but also very time consuming project, just start learning how to make an LED fixture, design your own, and build it.