Lighting for a 24 inch deep tank

[Teeman]

Hello everyone just wondering if anyone can give me there opinions on lighting.I hear conflicting opinions from anyone from my lfs.80 gallon tank 24 inches deep,currently have dual t5 ho fixture,have 2 10000k bulbs currently in.Will my plants do well with this lighting

[jcgd]

Probably, assuming you have decent reflectors. What brand is it?

[proaudio55]

You didn't mention exactly what plants / general conditions you're going for. But for general pointers:

I'd say the first thing to do is ditch the 10,000K bulbs (those are putting out a lot of UV light that isn't very helpful for plants) .... go for a couple 6500K's.

As for the fixture, assuming you have a decent reflector on it, that should be enough to get you started. However, if your plants start melting, You'll need a 3rd bulb in there to get your intensity up.

[jcgd]

I wouldn't ditch the bulbs. Use whatever looks good to you. I prefer a 6700k with a 10000k. Looks similar to Amano's tanks. He prefers higher kalvin - a blue tinge over yellow or red.

[Hoppy]

A single T5HO bulb will light the substrate directly under it to around 50-60 micromols of PAR, medium light, with that tank, but it takes two bulbs separated about 6-8 inches to light up the whole substrate reasonably evenly, at about that same light intensity. With two bulbs close together, you get high light directly under the bulb, unless you raise it to about 30 inches from the substrate. All of this with a light that has very good reflectors and a real T5HO ballast. If the light you have is a good one, just suspend it above the tank and you will get better spread of light, better unformity, and a good light intensity. No need to ever use a 3rd bulb, unless the light is a cheap one without good reflectors or ballast.

[Teeman]

Thank you for the quick replies everyone.For plants I have jungle val,2 sword plants,anubias ,and recently added some hair grass.The Jungle val does extremely well!I have to keep cutting it back or else it grows to about 3 feet.My sword plants have really good root growth but leaf growth is just not there.Hair grass to early to tell yet.I do supplement with flourish every week,Co2 is added aswell.Pro Audio I have tried the 6500 bulbs and I just found that it made my tank to yellowish.The fixture is a Corallife,has reflector in it already.

[Teeman]

I just measured and the fixture sits about 26 inches from the top of the substrate to the bottom of the fixture.

[Hoppy]

Coralife lights are not noted for having good reflectors. I haven't seen one of their T5HO lights, so it might be better. When you look at the bulbs do you see a reflection of each bulb on each side of the bulbs, so it appears to have 6 bulbs, not 2? If so, that is a very good reflector. If you only see a reflection of each bulb on one side of each bulb that is only a fair reflector. If you only see a partial reflection on one side of each bulb, that is a poor reflector. If it has a fair reflector you probably have low medium light. If its a poor reflector, you probably have low light.

With only the single light the light intensity will vary a lot from front or back of the tank to the middle, under the light. That could drop the intensity too low for growing all but mosses, etc. near the back and front. And, the plants will all try to grow up under the light, leaning into the middle.

[Teeman]

Yes Hoppy it appears that there is 6 bulbs