Advice On Lighting For 60gal

[jeej]

I have a 60gal that is 3foot wide, 18inches deep and 2foot high. It has a bit of a south american feel to it, with a few bits of tall spindly driftwood that intertwine to add depth. Only plants in there are a few anubias and plenty of java moss.

However, at the moment I only have one 30w bulb that is a bit pinkish in colour and is housed in an aquaone reflector.

I always knew this wasn't enough light for my tank and now the wood has been added and is giving off a bit of tanin, it is just too dark.

I think that 3x30w bulbs, giving a total of 90w, would be ok for my tank. But I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the type of reflector and lamps I should buy?

I've been informed that staying in the red/warmer colour spectrum will lessen the chance of an algae problem, plus I am also eager to keep the amazonian feel, so orange and pinky colours might be good. I just want to be able to see all areas of my tank!

I'm grateful for all advice on the matter!

 

[jeej]

No-one got an opinion or any advice?

 

[monkey_biz]

i could be wrong but i always thought that the red spectrum was used by plants to photosynthisis so wouldnt that make algae worse???

do a quick search and there are lots of topics on all types of lighting. you have a desired look in your mind, look at the pictures in the lighting posts and copy that.

sorry i couldnt be more helpful but lighting is quite a personal thing aquired through trial and error.

good luck

 

[waterdrop]

Sounds like you've got the right idea to go with easy plants that don't need especially high lighting, that's a good start. Secondly, your plan of just going a little over the 1-watt-per-gallon level (actually for a larger tank like yours, seems you might be ok for what the planted-tank people call a "low-light" approach within a range of a little below one watt per gallon to a little over one watt per gallon) (note also that these very rough rules-of-thumb were developed in the old days of T8/oneinch standard flour's, not new compacts or other more efficient bulbs.) Also sounds great to just let your spectrum enhance your amazonian approach - might as well enjoy it unless the plants seem to suffer.

One thing I can offer up as a result of my reading - you shouldn't be fooled that choosing the right spectrum is a quick fix for algae problems. Algae is a quite complicated topic and I gather from reading planted tank things that good planted tank folks have to bring a fairly significant skill set to bear on it to be successful (not to say you can't luck into the success without the skills!) But better to think of a thing like spectrum as just one little piece of the algae puzzle I think.

Sorry I'm no help on specific light/reflector suggestions as I've only been looking around like that myself. I even bought a second cheapie light just to delay the serious decision and get my basic wattage up over 1/G. There do seem to be some tank-lighting specialists on the web out there (didn't save the link, drat) but they are clearly there. Even if a place seems to be all about marine tanks they will often have some planted tank type lights thrown in and within that there should be some good choices for a low-light-approach person to find a good reflector and/or light. I found that a lot of the exotic-sounding lights, once one tracked down more info, were all about simulating ocean situations for salt tanks.

Hope this helps a little,
~~waterdrop~~

 

[jeej]

Thanks for the help guys.

The tank currently has one 30w lamp in a reflector and the plants are doing just fine and I have no algae. However, it does look a little dark to the eye - not helped by my black background!

I'll have a shop around anyway.

Cheers.