Lighting Upgrade

[rsands]

Hi,

Since my tank has quite alot of plants and only running 1.25wpg i want to upgrade it....both tubes are only 24watt

I want to get the 21" T5 compact tubes but my tank currently has 30" tubes? Is that advisable and would it cause corners of the tank not to be lit?

Now BIG question...do i get a twin 36watt setup to do dawn/dusk....OR do i go for the 55watt twin setup?

Tank is 160litres

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[BHornsey]

Firstly, do you have or are you intending to go to CO2 and a fertilising routine?

Once you start pushing light levels beyond what you have now, you start encouraging more plant growth, which in turn requires more nutrients for the plants; carbon, nitrogen, potassium, phosphate and the traces. Without an adequate supply of these you are setting up an algae farm

Just think of light as the driving force for plant growth and the more you drive growth the more nutrients the plants need.

 

[rsands]

i have the fert bags that greeline use in my tank behind the plants. I currently dose CO2 using the redsea biosystem turbo. After a bit of advice from here i have got it mantaining a nice green colour in the drop checker. So CO2 shouldn't be a bother...and if need be i might get another bottle.

My main worry is the length of lights...21" compared to the tank being 30" tube


Thanks

 

[BHornsey]

i have the fert bags that greeline use in my tank behind the plants. I currently dose CO2 using the redsea biosystem turbo. After a bit of advice from here i have got it mantaining a nice green colour in the drop checker. So CO2 shouldn't be a bother...and if need be i might get another bottle.

My main worry is the length of lights...21" compared to the tank being 30" tube

You could probably do with longer tubes or the ends of the tank will be on reduced lighting. At 160L (about 35 galls) the twin 36w are just hitting 2 wpg. At twin 55w, you are over 3 wpg.
My advice is, if you're determined to upgrade, stick with the twin 36w. Even at that level though, you will need a good fert strategy. Take a good look at the EI threads. You'll be able to grow anything at 2 wpg without pushing the demands of the tank.

I'm assuming that the Red Sea Bio is a yeast based system, rather than pressurised? You may well find the CO2 will no longer support the demands of the plants so you may want to consider an upgrade there, before you beef up the lights.
Why? Your current setup is fine at the low light levels but increase the lighting and you increase the plant's demands.
Plant nutrient demand (that's carbon, nitrogen, potassium, phosphate and traces) is driven by light; the more light, more growth and thus more nutrients needed. Any shortages and algae will reign

Hope this helps.