Light Recommendation For A 75 Gallon Planted Tank

[vasko]

What lighting fixtures would you recommend for a 75 gallon planted tank with Co2

The options I'm looking at are
1) 3 T-12 fluorescent tubes (40w each)
2) 4 compact fluorescent tubes (65w each)
3) 4 HO T-5 fluorescent tubes (54w each)

The plants I'm looking to use typically have low-medium to medium lighting needs. I've used the tank in the past with 3 or 4 T-12 (40w) blubs, but I'm concerned that the lighting might have been marginal.

- Can you get fluorescent bulbs for plant growth in the T-5 and compact sizes?
- Overall which set up would have the lowest cost of ownership?
- Would you recommend all 6700K bulbs or a mixture of bulbs?

Thanks in advance for your help

Dave

 

[dthoffsett]

You might want to PM a mod to move this to the planted section, they'll definately be able to help you there.

 

[ShoC]

dont get the T5 compact.
they produce vast ammounts of heat.

 

[Musho3210]

Get T5 linear, i have 2 48" TEK T5 linears in my 75 gallon tank. My plants are growing like crazy and i think i will need CO2 since algae is coming up.....