Lighting for 50 Gal hexagon tank

[Badcopnofishtank]

Okay, I know that this tank is not exactly the best one for planted aquariums, but a bud of mine wants it planted.

What is the minimum amount of light he can get away with?
I think his tank is about 28" deep. PC? metal halide?
Or is there someway to use T12's???

Thanks for the help-

[Rex Grigg]

What are the dimensions of the tank?

[Badcopnofishtank]

dimensions:

31.5 height :!:

22.7 width / pane to parallel pane


..okay it might be a 60 gal hex.

[SCMurphy]

I think I'd use a metal halide pendant over something that narrow and deep. You could get a couple of the 96 quad PC's over it but I'm not sure that they will penetrate that depth, or give an even dispersion of light. The reflectors that come with the quads are flat and I’d like to ask AH Supply if they don’t carry the quad bulb because making an angled reflector for it would be a nightmare.

[GulfCoastAquarian]

I think your chances of using T12 or any other Normal Output (NO) fluorescent bulbs are going to be very slim. The quad 96w PC's might cut it, even with a flat reflector, but with how cheap retrofit Metal Halides have become, I think I would personally go for a 175w kit like this...
1x175w CSL MH Retro Kit W/ 5500k Lamp: $139.90
It comes with a polished aluminum sheet that you can bend into a pretty good reflector.

[Badcopnofishtank]

I am going to suggest metal halide to him. He is not going to have CO2
so maybe 175 watt would suffice. What Kelvin rating bulb would you suggest?

[Badcopnofishtank]

Okay, I thought that the metal halide set-up would be suffient, but I also noticed a set-up that was interesting on E-bay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=2374891508

To summarize, Fluorex 500 watt, Kelvin rating is 6500 and the CRI is 84. The ad also says it puts out 8255 Lumens. Does this sound like a viable option since its less expensive?

-How many lumens is ideal for a decent planted tank? I am thinking of low to moderate light level demanding plants. (No CO2 either.)

[Rex Grigg]

Oh God, not again. That's a 65 watt work light that you can find at most Wal-Mart stores. Short answer is they suck. You find these on EBay all the time. Seems that most dope growers are too stupid to go to Wal-Mart and buy them so they get them from EBay.

[Badcopnofishtank]

Thanks for the heads-up.

[glass-gardens.com]

Walmart doesn't carry them in our area, HD does, and aside from one that went flaky, I've had excellent results with them actually. And HD covers the full warranty. So for 35 dollars, I can get a 6500L 65 watt fixture and bulb that works for me (and a lot of other people in my area who for the record don't grow dope). People on eBay buy them generally because they aren't available everywhere.

Another alternative to outrageously priced fixtures and bulbs are some of the Regents Floods, they make a 27 watt 6400K with a quad CF with a decent reflector, especially if you take the time to polish it and they lend themselves nicely to retrofits.