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Lighting Reco's for 30Gal long tank

633 Views 1 Reply 2 Participants Last post by  jeffkrol
Ok I have spent a fair amount of time reading posts and doing some research. However it seems the more research I do the more confused I get. A few months ago I dug out my old 30 gallon long tank that has not been used for at least 10 years and is at least 25+ years old. I believe it is an all glass aquarium 30 gallon long tank that came with a standard hood and single light canopy. It appears that all glass aquariums are now part of Aqueon?

My current goal is to have a low tech low light planted aquarium that I can slowly start establishing plants in.

Here are the specs and equipment on my tank;
30 gallon long 36L x 12W x 16H
the light hood has a single 24 inch T8 17w flourescent bulb
seachem flourite substrate
underground filter
aquaclear 50 powerfilter
penguin 301 powerhead
penguin 110 bio wheel - may be redundant and unnecessary?

Here is a link to the type of canopy and hood I am referring to;
Aquarium Lighting & Hoods: Aqueon Deluxe Fluorescent Full Hoods

I plan on replacing the canopy with a new all glass one and am looking for the proper lighting fixture to add to support a low tech low light environment.
I am not sure if a plant type light single T8 bulb (17w, 24inch) provides enough light even for a low light tank. I have not been able to determine the LEDs that would be appropriate given the depth of this tank.

I would really appreciate some recommendations on lighting per above. Any other reco's and comments are appreciated. Thanks in advance for any assistance
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16" depth has little to do w/ it..
bigger question is your "requirements" other than light quantity.
Any (well most) of the strip type LED's are fine for your output requirements.
In a sense your next question is functionality and budget..

It would be easy to suggest a say Current planted plus pro or fluval planted II.
both would give you options from low to high light..but at a cost.
Ther are others
Somewhat the same w/ a Finnex 24/7.

After that ,and more realistic (?) in pricing are
Finnex/Beamswork/other Current USA fixtures.
Like this.. good starter light though higher output than you might want.
simple stick on a timer and have it turn off/on..
Can be modified for a dimmer (simple in line splice of a cheap PWM dimmer unit)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KYELCSA?th=1
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