[D.Farci]

First of all, hello! This will be my first post after spending several months lurking and learning.

Anyway, I'm planning to get a 33 Long (48x12x13H) in the near future, and I"m curious about lighting. I have an extra T5 NO light from Coralife that I can buy new bulbs for, but I don't know if this will be enough for a decently-planted tank.

I have a 5 Gallon with a Planted+, which might be too strong for my dosing plan and results in hair algae. However, I'm thinking it wouldn't be *as* bad on a deeper tank, like the 33 Long. Anyone have experience using Planted+ on a 13" deep tank and going with liquid ferts and root tabs?

Another option is purchasing another $60 Coralife T5 fixture, bringing me to 4 bulbs at 28W each (if I remember correctly). Would the combination of T5s be at least enough to have a low-tech tank with plants such as Rotala and a nice carpet of Dwarf Sag?

Any and all opinions are welcome. I'm balling on a budget, but I have thought about selling my smaller Planted+ and using the money to purchase a longer one for the new tank.

 

[Hoppy]

A 30 inch long Finnex Planted Plus would probably be too much light, but a Finnex Fugeray would work. It doesn't give you the nice colors that a planted plus does, so perhaps a Finnex Stingray.

 

[D.Farci]

A 30 inch long Finnex Planted Plus would probably be too much light, but a Finnex Fugeray would work. It doesn't give you the nice colors that a planted plus does, so perhaps a Finnex Stingray.

If I dose moderately with Excel and Flourish, along with root tabs and iron, potentially, will the Stingray be enough light for moderate/high light plants? I don't plan on carpeting anything, but I have a Planted+ on my Fluval Spec V and the dwarf sag is sending out runners every day and the leaves are bright green...I'd love to emulate that if possible in a tank that's only a few inches deeper.

With the 13" tall tank, and hopefully several inches of substrate, I expect to have an advantage when it comes to finding lights that emit enough PAR to grow plants at 10" deep. The Stingray is definitely in my budget, especially since a second T5 fixture will cost about the same as it is.

 

[BadApple]

Hey Farci,
I currently run 1 fluval plant and fresh 2.0 on my 55g with similar dosing. Can't remember what sizes they sell in, but strongly recommend the light. It has a dimmer so could be adjusted to suit your needs. I leave it all the way up and just let my floating plants diffuse it a little bit. I'm a little heavy handed on the excel and flourish and add KH2P04 and occasionally nitrates with good results. I actually just recently pulled most of my dwarf sag out as I found my corys weren't too fond of it, but I love that plant and it was growing like mad. I think with a more shallow depth you could probably grow most anything you want with that LED.

 

[Catfishguy]

I have a 33 gallon long and the stingray gave me nothing but trouble with algae. The tank is so shallow. I went back to a single T8

 

[D.Farci]

I have a 33 gallon long and the stingray gave me nothing but trouble with algae. The tank is so shallow. I went back to a single T8

Interesting. Do you have any pictures? What plants do you have, if any? The Stingray is one of the weaker lights, so I'm surprised it had such an effect.

 

[Catfishguy]

I have a 33 gallon long and the stingray gave me nothing but trouble with algae. The tank is so shallow. I went back to a single T8

Interesting. Do you have any pictures? What plants do you have, if any? The Stingray is one of the weaker lights, so I'm surprised it had such an effect.

No pictures but I had swords crypts and Anubias. Had tons of floating wisteria that accumulated green hair algae and the sword had black beard algae. I dosed flourish twice week. Yes the stingray is on the lower end of all the finnex fixtures but it still gives off decent amount of light. Those shallow tanks just don't need much light if you're going low tech

 

[D.Farci]

No pictures but I had swords crypts and Anubias. Had tons of floating wisteria that accumulated green hair algae and the sword had black beard algae. I dosed flourish twice week. Yes the stingray is on the lower end of all the finnex fixtures but it still gives off decent amount of light. Those shallow tanks just don't need much light if you're going low tech

Thanks for the info. I guess it's easier to just wait and see how my light looks once I set up the tank.