Lighting

[Rorie]

Hi,

I am new to planted aquarium and am stuck trying to sort out my lighting.

I have a 360L aquarium which is a custom build. from calculations, 360L is 80Gal, so if we go by the '3Watts per gallon', i need 240W of light. What is best to get?

As its a custom build, i dont have a lid for it (well, i do, but its rubbish and only a part time solution). Can i get a light holder or something for cheap? I actually got the aquarium second hand, so i have the control units. All the fixtures i have seen include the controllers. Any suggestions about how i can suspend the lights above the aquarium (like ADA style) cheap?

Next question is colour - i have seen a few places selling coloured lights - what is this for and is there any good/bad thing with having coloured lights?

Currently in my small aquarium (not planted) i have moonlights which allow me to see the fish for longer. They are just blue LEDs i got off ebay. Can i have these with my planted aquarium too?

Thanks

 

[KittyKat]

What do you want to grow? Do you want to use CO[sub]2[/sub] and fertilisers? How deep is the aquarium?

When I have had an open-topped aquariums in the past, I used luminaires, which were lovely. If the tank is under 2ft tall and you will NOT have CO[sub]2[/sub] and regular fertilisers, then 2-3 tubes which are the length of the tank will probably be enough.

If you are going down the other route, someone else can advise you better.

 

[lljdma06]

If this were my planted 80G, I wouldn't go past 1WPG of Standard T8 tubes, less if I'm going T5. 240W is way too much light. Big tanks can get away with a lot less. Most tanks don't need past 2WPG. Agree with Kitty Kat, though, what are your goals? If you don't want CO2, then I highly advise much lower lighting levels. I would encourage not going past 2WPG regardless of the addition of CO2 or the depth of the tank. More important in this tank is going to be circulation and flow throughout the tank. It's a big tank, lots of water to move circulate.

llj

 

[Rorie]

Thanks for the replys

I will have C02 in my tank - i am just away to buy a kit for that after having done an age or research for that!

I currently have 4 tubes, but i know nothing about them. I was given them by the previous owner (a very experienced guy!) but i know they need replaced. When i got the aquarium, it also came with the light box controllers. The lid just now is just a wooden job the guy did. Which has started to rot. Hence i am looking for info on where i can get something to hold the lights above the tank, as i gather getting a top for the aquarium could be a challenging find!

As for what i want to grow - i have just bought a book about the plants to help me choose. But i do want a fair amount of plants in there.

Rorie