Lighting Questions/need Help

[LaurieLou]

Ok, first of all, I want to apologize in advance if these questions have already been answered. I just can't seem to wrap my brain around what I need to do with my tank. We have a 55gal, planted tank. The plants really are not looking all that great and I know the lighting is the issue. The hood holds a single 40w T-10 fluorescent tube. Now, I know I need alot more wattage. It doesn't appear to me you can buy higher wattage tubes (or do my research skills kind of suck?) AND the T-10 thing is confusing me. If the switch in the hood says T-10, I can't put a T-8 or T-12 in there can I? And assuming there are no tubes higher than 40w, than my only options are buying a new hood that will hold more than 1 tube or somehow gerry-rigging my existing stuff to increase the light? The last tank we had (a 29 gallon) had the same issues at first, but we replaced the tube that came with it with a 40w and our plants thrived. That wattage is just not cutting for this tank obviously. Again, sorry if I am frustrating anyone here!

 

[Dave Spencer]

Don`t worry, nobody on here bites.

The first question you want to ask yourself is how many watts do you want. Over two watts per US gallon will cause you algae problems if you don`t spend your hard earned $ on other kit as well.

If the hood is restricting adding further lights, give luminaires a Google, see what you think and come back with any more questions you may have.

Dave.