Lighting for my new 30G Freshwater setup

[greenaqua]

Hi,

I am new to aquascaping and this is my very first tank. 30Gallon fresh water. I have Solarmax HE from Deep blue. It has one T5 10,000K daylight and one T5 Actinic-O3 lamp. Total wattage is 21Wx2.

I just ordered mini fissidens, flame, Belem, Echinodorus tenellus.

Is this light low, medium, good for my setup? Do I leave both lights on? I am not sure what is the bluish actinic light for.

Thanks!

[Darkblade48]

You need to replace your actinic bulb with either a 10000K bulb or 6500K bulb (or any other colour temperature you wish, as long as it is under 10000K).

Plants cannot use actinic light, so it is essentially useless to them.

Do you have a T5NO bulb or a T5HO bulb?

[greenaqua]

I am not sure if its HO or NO... In the spec sheet, its says T5HE. What are the differences between these?

So, I hope changing actinic bulb with equal 21W or possibly little higher 30W or so should work just fine?

Thanks!

[Darkblade48]

Originally Posted by greenaqua

I am not sure if its HO or NO... In the spec sheet, its says T5HE. What are the differences between these?

So, I hope changing actinic bulb with equal 21W or possibly little higher 30W or so should work just fine?

Thanks!

T5HE might be "high efficiency", meaning you would have T5HO (high output) lighting. This is in contrast to T5NO (normal output) lighting. As the name would imply, high output lighting puts out more light.

If you change out your actinic bulb, I would just get a similar rated wattage bulb to replace it; your ballast may not be able to drive a higher wattage bulb.

With 42W of T5HO lighting, you would have quite high light; be sure to keep up with your fertilization regimen and CO2 to ensure healthy and algae free plants.

[scubasmac]

The Solarmax HE stands for high efficiency...these are the same as T5 normal output.

[greenaqua]

Ok.. Lets say I replace the actinic with another 21W 10000K bulb.. So does that make it medium lit tank?

[greenaqua]

Also, saw many pics on this forum where the light was kept at least couple of inches above the tank... Is that only for aesthetics? or any light physics involved?