Okay, not a crisis. Just me, doing my typical over-reaction to things I don't fully understand.
I'm in the process of building up a 75g paludarium with a substantial water area (read: half the tank will be a planted aquarium, with the top half featuring hanging-type plants). But I need LIGHTS. I've kept planted tanks before, so I suppose I'm not totally new to this, but I'd still like to poll you APC lovelies and figure out how best to spend my money.
Now, keeping in mind that a) I am poor as a church mouse, what with being a grad student and such, and b) CO2 will eventually be added but may not be present right from the start... oh, and c) the non-aquatic plants will be fairly demanding of bright light.. I have these options:
1. Three 48" normal-output T5 freshwater fixtures, for a total of 168W (2.24WPG), $143.97.
2. One 48" Coralife PC fixture, for a total of 130W (1.73WPG), $109.99, or..
3. One 48" Nova Extreme T5 HO 2x54w fixture, for 108W (1.44WPG), $99.99.
I know that watts-per-gallon isn't everything, because T5s are capable of outputting more light with less wattage. Add to that the high-output intensity, and I'm leaning towards the Nova Extreme. However, I am definitely looking for guidance here - if you can recommend one of these options over the others, PLEASE let me know. A lighting engineer, I am not!
Thanks!
Newbie lighting crisis!
Linear Mode
