[thefishmanlives]

I am upgrading the lighting on my 29 gallon to either a 24x4 t5ho fixture with ind. reflectors or a single 150watt Metal halide lamp. One of my main concerns is healthy bottoms of stems plants. Id like to get as much light as possible to the bottom of the plants and have them in tip top shape for aquascaping. For all intents and purposes would the t5 fixture get a lot of light to the bottom of my plants to give me top quality looking plants for my aquascape or would the halide serve my purpose better? Im not really concerned with heat althoguh it is an issue, but p[lant quality is top priority. Lets assume that my co2 and fert regimen is religious as I am a pretty experienced planted tank keeper. I just want to have my red plants, red all the way down to the bottom. Any thoughts here? I want to make this upgrade count here. Thanks guys!!!rayer:

 

[thefishmanlives]

im looking at the catalina solar t5ho fixture with individual reflectors it uses 24" bulbs. The halide im considering is a 150x1 Clip on with an arm similar to the viper one.

 

[thefishmanlives]

Im playing this game right now with my fixtures. I only keep narrow java fern and anubias on the edges of the tank and my higher light plants in the middle, which isnt an issue although it would be nice to get an even light spread through out. DO you think If i raised the MH up a hittle higher I can get more spread or would the depth it penetrates suffer?

 

[thefishmanlives]

My real question is which one will penetrate more to the bottom? Or is it negligible for the depth of a 29?

 

[thefishmanlives]

my question is will my plant quality vary between halide lighting and t5ho? Would there be a difference in terms of growth and plant quality?