Links To Good, Cheap Lighting Needed

[blue acara]

Im looking for more lighting for my 125g ( about 135 usg after displacement). ive already got a t5 pc interpet (55w x 2) controller and tubes, and ive got a (2x 54) t5 arcadia controller- this will give me 218 watts, I want 400 watts minimum. Has anyone got any good sites (ebay/german ebay-whereever) to get more lighting

cheers

 

[Themuleous]

Why do you want 400w? Thats a hell of a lot even over a 125g.

Sam

 

[thefirethief]

Ive always wondered how grow lights for terrestrial plants would fare with aquatic plants. Watt for Watt the units are an absolute bargain compared to aquarium lighting. Here is a 250 watt unit for just over 60 quid. Try getting 250 watts of lighting into your tank for that price! Always something Id like to try once I have the space for a larger tank.

 

[blue acara]

You think 400watts is too much Sam? over a 135 us gallon 400w is about 3 wpg, or is wpg less usefull when dealing with larger tanks? I want to be able to grow riccia and some of the difficult red plants.

thanks for the link thefiretheif but Im not going to chance it.

I just did a search here and found your thread Sam-there are some good sites on there-I should have searched before I posted, but im a lazy person. Here are the links if anyone is interested:

link2
link 3- good for interpet compact t5's

Edit-removed 1st link as tubes may be crap

 

[Dave Spencer]

Sam has got a calculator in his signature that works out your requirements. It is quite interesting, the main point being that light requirement is not a linear function. Smaller tanks require proportionally more light than larger tanks. The WPG rule works best in the medium sized tank range.

215W should be enough.

Dave.

 

[Themuleous]

The WPG 'rule' doesn't work for small or large tanks, which need relatively more and relatively less lighting respectively. There is a link in my sig to an excellent article about the lighting Amano uses. Based on that you need 216w. So certainly 400w would be a lot, that's not to say you couldn't have 400w just that with that much lighting, you miss a water change or stop dosing when you go on hols and the algae could be all over the tank in a matter of days.

I would hold off on those cheapo T5 lights I found, I've not had them long enough to prove they work ok.

Sam

 

[Dave Spencer]

Hah!

Beat you to it Sam. When the calculator chucks out its answer, is it giving a figure that is effectively >2WPG?

 

[Squid]

Im looking for more lighting for my 125g ( about 135 usg after displacement). ive already got a t5 pc interpet (55w x 2) controller and tubes, and ive got a (2x 54) t5 arcadia controller- this will give me 218 watts, I want 400 watts minimum. Has anyone got any good sites (ebay/german ebay-whereever) to get more lighting

cheers

Slight side-strack, but im confused about the displacement note.. How come its bigger after displacement, or am i missunderstanding.?

Squid

 

[Themuleous]

Ninja'd by Dave!

When the calculator chucks out its answer, is it giving a figure that is effectively >2WPG?

Not really following you there Dave? It doesn't always give a figure >2WPG as for the 135g tank it says 216 which is 1.6WPG

Sam

 

[blue acara]

Excellent news! I dont have to spend another £100+ on the tank ive already got most of the stuff I need then. Ill fork out for 2 plantpro tubes now, it almost like im saving money!

"Slight side-strack, but im confused about the displacement note.. How come its bigger after displacement, or am i missunderstanding.?"

Fair point- what I ment is 125 UK gallons, US gallons are smaller so it works out right- I think...

 

[Dave Spencer]

Ninja'd by Dave!

When the calculator chucks out its answer, is it giving a figure that is effectively >2WPG?

Not really following you there Dave? It doesn't always give a figure >2WPG as for the 135g tank it says 216 which is 1.6WPG

Sam

Sorry for hijacking this thread a bit.

What I meant was that although the new figure suggests the tank is 1.6WPG, does it calculate light levels so that it is still effectively a high light, grow anything, must have CO2 tank.

Dave.

 

[Themuleous]

Oh right, yes I think it does Dave, well I would think so. Its based on TA's tanks in the three Nature Aquarium books, which as far as I know are high light.

Sam