Upgrade to T5 H0 - Suggestion

[royalbijoy]

1. First , my tank specs:
   
   Dimension: 4l x 2h x 1.5 d.
   CO2: Pressurized. 1 bubble/sec. (Don't have drop checker to measure ppm.)
   Fertilization: JBL ferropol + macros weekly once.
   Plants: Heavily planted tank.
   Current lights: 50W LED flodlight + 72W PLL
   Filtration: 1800L/hr external canister+internal sponge filter.
   Substrate: Bottom layer - JBL aquaplus, Top layer - Marfied Controsoil
   Tank params : I do not have a test kit to test the nitrate and other stuff. But have a ph test thing which read 6.5.
   Height of lights : 5 inches above water.
   
   
   Problem: Plants not growing quite fast. Carpet plants almost melted away. Leaves are very old and so they get covered with brown mulm whenever the substrate is disturbed(either me or my cichlids). I tried everything from Compact Spiral -> Shop lights -> PLL(4x34W) -> LED(100W floodlight). The tall plants I brought from the LFS just melted away. They were so red and broad leaved at the LFS, but once in my tank, they became pale, smaller and eventually melted away.
   
   
   Possible Upgrade : I went to the LFS and the guy told me that I had to upgrade my lights to T5HO which I never tried. HE told me I would need 4 x54W T5HO and that would solve all the problems. He also mentioned that since I had a 2 feet deep tank, I would need 10000K lights. Another point he made is that the electronics in the choke made it possible to run at 30W even though the lights are 54W. I didn't believe this statement as I know energy cannot be produced just like that. If the chokes used 30W, I would get lights for 30W an not 54W as he said. Please correct me if this is wrong.
   
   
   Suggestions needed:
   1. Should I go for 10000K - 12000K as he mentioned or stick to the 6500K ones which are best for plants?
   2. What reflectors should I go for? Please let me know the type of reflector and not any brand as I may not get those brands here. I did hear that SLR reflectors are good. Any sample pic of a good reflector is what I am looking for. The ones he showed me did not have reflectors for each of the tubes, but were for all the tubes together. I am planning to get a good one from a lighting shop rather than from this LFS guy. But I need to be sure about the reflectors. He also asked me to buy plant grow lights by JBl which were expensive. Do I really need them at all?
   3. Should 4x54W T5Ho be enough for my tank size( I am looking forward to some carpet plants like HC, baby tears)?
   

   
   
   

[Hoppy]

Your tank is 18 inches front to back, so a single bulb or cluster of bulbs over the center of the tank will not give uniform light intensity over the whole substrate. You can solve that part of the problem by using bulbs that are spaced a lot farther apart than is conventional. For example a two bulb T5HO light, with the bulbs 7 to 8 inches apart, 26 inches from the substrate, would give you good low medium light over the whole substrate. Or, a four bulb T5HO light suspended about 50 inches from the substrate would give you about the same light intensity, with enough spread of the light to give uniform intensity. (This is assuming your light fixture uses a ballast that drives the bulbs at full HO power, and a good reflector for each bulb.)

If I was trying to get "good" lighting for that tank I would get two one bulb T5HO lights, and put them on top of the tank, or 2-3 inches above the top, with them separated by 8 inches.

is what a good T5HO reflector looks like. It has multiple bends, so when you look at the bulb you see 2 or 4 images of the bulb on each side of the real bulb. Each of those images is another bulb, contributing more light. The reflector should be about 3 inches wide, so there is room for light from the sides and back of the bulb to get reflected around the bulb and out to the tank. And, of course, it should be made of polished aluminum.

Color temperature of the bulb, for a planted tank, makes little, if any difference in how much light you get from the bulb, for tanks 2 feet or less high. Color temperature just affects how the tank looks, so that is a personal decision.

I am using one bubble per second of CO2, from a DIY CO2 system, on my low light 65 gallon tank. It is enough to help the plants, but not even close to enough to harm the fish. For your tank is a 90 gallon tank, so you would need more CO2 to get the same results I get, with low light. If you have low medium light, you will probably need at least 2 bubbles per second to accomodate the faster growth rate driven by the higher light intensity.

[royalbijoy]

Thanks for the logical suggestion. I will try getting those wide reflectors. I had almost decided on one of the reflectors I saw at the LFS. But after going through your reply, I think I need to consider the facts. The reflector I saw had lights close together and they did not have individual reflectors for each bulb.
Another question, what's the best macro combination for planted tanks. I was scared to add nitrates . But now some are recommending adding all three macros. I have got K2SO4 and MgSO4. What else do I need to buy? I just googled and it gave me contradictory results. Some saying phosphates creates algae and some saying phosphates do not create algae.....

[Hoppy]

None of the macros cause algae. Some algae are encouraged to start by not having an adequate supply of nitrates or phosphates. But, having too much has not been shown to cause algae in a planted tank. If you are able to buy them, potassium nitrate (KNO3) and mono potassium phosphate (KH2PO4) are the ones most of us use.

[Kdblove_99]

I just ordered the Catalina Light fixture. From all my readings and Hoppys help. This seems to be an Excellent fixture. For my needs i just got the 1x54. But from what i've seen it looks like the Catalina 2x54 the bulbs are seperated a good distance apart. They also make a 3x54 and can get all individual switches.

[Willamette]

I use that exact Catalina 2x54 on my 75. Wide spacing, very nice, very large reflectors. (Damn nice fixture all around, truth be told)