[Angelfish]

Hi everyone,

I have a standard 37 gallon tank (about 30" x 12" x 21") and I have set up two Glo T5 HO fixtures with reflectors over the tank (four bulbs total). I use their 22" Life- Glo bulbs which are 6700k, and 24W each. Since I'm trying this system out, I'm not sure how well these bulbs produce light output. So, a question for those who have tried these kinds of bulbs out, is my current light fixture setting enough to grow and maintain plants such as Rotala Macrandra (with added CO2 and nutrients)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Kevin Jones]

the only issue with that tank is its height. but 4 x 24watts is almost double what i would use for a ~30 gallon. you're likely all right, but you may see lower leaves falling off.

 

[OVT]

You should be just fine. I have one 36" Hagen Glo 2x39w over a 36" 12g tank. Rotalla macrandra, regular and dwarf baby tears are doing just fine. Have fun.

 

[Left C]

ShadowMac started with an overdriven 4x24w T5HO kit with an IceCap 660 ballast and found that it was too much light over his 37g. Then he cut back to 2 bulbs but again with the IceCap ballast and this was too much light too. Then he swapped out his IceCap 660 ballast to a ballast that didn't overdrive his two bulbs. This is working fine for his use. Has has pressurized CO2 BTW. When his 24w bulbs were overdriven by that IceCap 660 ballast, they were driven up to around 40w each. Now he is running them at 24w each.

 

[pwolfe]

i run an aquaticlife 30" with a geissman midday and a geisman flora. I'm also using paintball co2. I'm using tahitian moon sand and root tabs for substrate. I have found that this light setup has been sufficient for me to grow anything lush and full. mosses, stems, ferns, they all have exploded in here. algae blooms have been minimal and usually related to lax maintanence, not light levels.

 

[Angelfish]

Thank you everyone for your input! I'll try it out and see how it goes