Which Tubes?

[chr15_8]

Hi all its been a while since ive been in this section and has been a while since ive planted a tank.

ive got a 17 us gallon tank thats waiting to be planted. its will has pressuised co2 and i will be isong EI

currently the hood has 2 15 watt tubes, i was wondering what combo of tubes would be best for a planted tank? (i know theres a recommend list of tubes in georges sticky but im wondering about which to go best)

i also have the same hood which i have modified to take a 55w pc t5 light would this be better?

i know the wpg rule dont count for under 20 gallons but with the 2 15 watt t8 is comes to about 1.8wpg and the t5 is 3.2wpg

any suggestions would be great

thanks
chris

 

[aaronnorth]

the wpg rule doesnt work for tanks under 10gallons.

The decision is up to you, having the higher lighting will mean faster growth so more CO2 & nutrients ad also more maintenance is required. It will also mean that you will be ab;le to complete a scape, then move onto another one if you wish. Or you can go lower and not have to do as much work, and the tank will mature more slowly.

Check out this thread for a visual look on different tubes avail;able from lampspecs: [URL="http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/lighting.htm"]http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/lighting.htm[/URL]

 

[chr15_8]

thanks aaron been looking on the site since i started about 2-3 years ago.

think i will go high tech at the start for 4-5 months then i will switch over to low tech somehow.


chris