Advice on lighting needed.

[sleepypix]

Hi to all.
I am a 1st timer trying to set up a planted tank.
I am in the midst of choosing the right kind of lighting.
In my order of preference are MH/T5/PL.

How many watts MH/T5/PL should I go for? Advantages of one over the other.

What would you kind gurus here recommend?

My tank : 2.5ftx20inx20in.
Total tank water capacity minus substrate: 180litres.

Thank you all in advance.

[alan53]

Hi Sleepypix, like you I am new too, and I have spent a lot of time reading through posts and threads in an effort to get a better understanding of auqariums and fish.
I think the part of theanswer to your question lays in thetop right hand corner of the page. There you will see three headings marked :Forums: Photo Gallery,(well worth checking out) and Calculator. I think the answer you seek will be in the calculator section.
They people here have made it all very easy to calculate size, volume, power etc.
Alan.

[valice]

Since you already have the prefence of MH over T5 and PL, you can safely forego PL. Unless cost is an issue, since MH/T5 is definitely more expensive than a PL for the tank size you have.

For the same wattage, a T5 set can give out more lumens/light energy than a MH as a larger amount of the energy is in fact heat. A MH thus generates higher temperature and in the process heats up the top part of the water faster and higher than a T5. But a MH can create that shimmering effect on the substrate which no other lights can...

Generally, you need at least 3wpg of lights IF you have CO2 injection and high light plants. Else 2wpg is sufficient if you have low-light plants and no doing CO2 injection. There is also a theory out there that for a small tank, in fact, you should be supplying about 4-4.5wpg and for a large large tank 2wpg is in fact sufficient (even for CO2 injected tanks). That's why Amano's 2ft tanks has like 100W lightings and his 4ft tank has something like 300W...

[sleepypix]

thank you Valice for some of your thoughts.

A friend of mine used a 150W MH, and he had green water algae. Has anyone experienced this? May i know what might be the cause?

Now i'm thinking i better go with T5 lighting. But the dilemma is...
I can only use 2ft T5 which is 24W.
4x24W gives me only 2WPG.

Any comments?
Thanks in advance.

[Wackytpt]

My question is before you decide on lightings, what is the type of tank you intend to set up?

A low maintainence tank or a high maintainence one?

If you are using MH, you would also need to get a chiller.

Lastly what is your budget like?

[sleepypix]

Thanks Wackytpt. I should have made my intended setup clearer.

I've already got a chiller and a CO2 tank with solenoid.
I intend to keep relatively high light plants.
I don't know if that is considered high maintenance or not.

[medicineman]

I use 3 x 150W MH in my 6 feet tank and add another 160W of T5 lighting for the long run. I prefer only MH for high light setup and it does not dissapoint me as now light is never a limitation of what I can keep. No algae issue right here, at such light level all that matters is how you handle the tank (which is not easy for beginners and even some of the experienced).

I'd say if you are ready and willing to learn how to handle it and I see you have a chiller, go for a single 150W MH and throw in some PL. The MH is on for full burst mode which is a short 5 hours and the rest of the 9-10 hours photoperiod you rely on dimmer PL.

MH light is actually has much better par than fluoroscent light, the T12,T8, PL and even the T5. Only high tech expensive T5 and yellow HPS can go equal to MH. The heat generated is just linier and worth the 20,000+ lumens it produces out of a single bulb over its small volume. It has one of the best punching water property and creates ripple that can bounce off within your house. They just worth every cent if you know how to handle them.

[|squee|]

Your tank setup sounds high maintainence because of CO2 injection + MH lights. Low maintainence tanks typically do not inject CO2 and have low levels of lighting.

Welcome to AQ!