Lighting

[Araxen]

I recently acquired a 55 gallon tank to replace my 15 Gallon tank and I'm looking to get some lighting for it. The 55 Gallon will be a semi-planted tank meaning I want to keep some live plants in it but don't want to get into a fancy co2 setup and what not.

In my 15 gallon tank I have 1 Amazon Sword, 1 Brazilian Pennywort, and another unidentified plant. All 3 are doing well with just basic regular lighting and a regular doze of Florapride during water changes. In my 55 Gallon I will probably add 2-3 more Swords and maybe some foreground plants. Would it be better to spend the extra money on a triple light or would it be better to save some money and go with a double?

These are the two I'm considering right now:

http/tinyurl.com/jkw3y

http/tinyurl.com/e6bcx

 

[Themuleous]

Whats the current lighting system you have on the 55g, you might not even need to upgrade if you only want to keep easy plants

Sam

 

[Araxen]

Whats the current lighting system you have on the 55g, you might not even need to upgrade if you only want to keep easy plants

Sam

I don't have anything yet. I just bought the tank on Saturday and I'm piecing everything together now.

 

[Themuleous]

Oh right sorry didn't realise. Can I say first off that I have heard mixed things about pet-smart and I'm sure there are cheaper options out there. I'm not in the US so don't tend to remember the online stores but I'm sure someone from the US can post a link to a cheaper shop and to the right product for your tank. Or you could try eBay?

Sam

EDIT - what are the dimensions of the tank? The lighting you can have will be affected by the length of the tank, that's all

One other pointer, if you don't want to get into CO2, etc aim for around 1 to 1.5 WPG, any more and you're looking at a highlight tank that will demand CO2 for algae control.

 

[Araxen]

Tank Dimensions 48"LX13"WX20H".

I'll have to do some checking on ebay. I didnt think of that.

The reason I was going with Petsmart atm is because they have free shipping and a small sale going and so far everything has been cheaper compared to Dr Fosters and thatpetplace.com. I"m getting my aquaclear 70 filter and heater from there. If there's another site I'm not aware of hopefully somebody will point it out.

Checked ebay and aquabid and didn't find anything =/

 

[Araxen]

Found aquatraders.com and will be picking up some lighting from there. Nobody can come close to their prices and I'm ordering the rest of my stuff from Dr Fosters Smith as they don't charge tax and it comes out cheaper because of that.