Lighting Spectrum and Photosythesis - Page 11 - Lighting

supersmirky · 02-09-2009, 01:04 PM

This has been the best post for learning what to look for in lighting.

I have a 72" long tank by 18" wide and 25" deep. With about 3" of substrate

I just upgraded to a 72" t5ho fixture by Nova Extreme Pro. 12 T5HO's in total (36" bulbs)

Anyone have a recommendation on the best mixture of T5HO's at a good price that would be decent for my plants?

I plan on doing the dawn dusk period along with the "SIESTA" period lol.

Any ideas would help me out a lot!

Newt · 02-09-2009, 03:43 PM

I'm using GroLux Stanard and GroLux WS for my dawn/dusk and Giesmann Midday as my regular lights.

supersmirky · 02-09-2009, 03:55 PM

Did you pick yours up locally or online? I am having the hardest time finding a place that carries t5ho.

Newt · 02-09-2009, 04:57 PM

I got my T5Ho Midday at www.reefgeek.com when I purchased my TEK light fixture.

Do a search on the Giesmann Midday as some other member found them for about $19 each for 48".

Reef Geek does offer discounts when you purchase in lots. I have the info for the breakdown(s) if you are interested.

supersmirky · 02-09-2009, 07:03 PM

Thanks Newt and thanks for all your help along with the VERY informative post regarding lighting. It helps ALOT!

supersmirky · 02-12-2009, 11:25 AM

Okay, I have my bulbs ordered for my nova extreme pro 72" (6x36" bulbs on each side)

I ordered 8 Giesemann midday and 4 Giesemann aqua flora.

Switch 1 - controls 4 bulbs total (2 on each side....1 in front and 1 near the back on each side)

Switch 2 - Controls the 8 others (4 on each side)

To set up my siesta and both the dawn/dusk. HOw would you suggest I have my bulb configuration?

I assume the switch one with only 4 bulbs controlled will be my dawn/dusk as well as for my siesta period while switch 2 will be on for most of the day (around 9 hours I suppose).

Tank is 72x18x25 with 3" of substrate.

Newt · 02-12-2009, 04:02 PM

I'd use the aquafloras as the dawn/dusk lights.

supersmirky · 02-12-2009, 07:24 PM

It's what I was thinking since they are slightly less intense. Thanks again

CuLan · 08-07-2009, 09:04 AM

Great info. I learned a lot about lighting. Thanks, Newt.
A question. What measurement would tell us about how deep the light can penetrate the water?

ecotanker · 08-10-2009, 07:29 AM

Yes. Thanks Newt! for an informative and helpful post.

Now, I have a question. We know that light of different color penetrate at different depths. My question is has there been any measurement of which color light actually get to the plants under different water "chemistry", soft vs hard, amount of DOC and other factors like that?

I would love to see a study along this line.