# 216 Watts T5HO Overkill?



## Sameer (Sep 30, 2007)

Hey guys just purchased a t5ho for my 45 gallon tank. 4 bulbs, 6500k for a 45 gal tank. The depth is 16 inches I think. This equates to 4.8 watts per gallon. For t5ho the w/g rule does not apply, but I wanted to know if this was overkill. PEople say if theres too much light, even with high co2 you will get algae. I was hoping this would not be the case with me. I have a heavly planted tank with normal t8s. I have 2.8 watt/gal and everything grows like weed. The only thing is my aromatica is green and not the reddish/purple colour I wanted.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Very much so overkill. 

The 2.8 WPG that you have right now is also slightly skewed, as the guideline was designed with T12 bulbs in mind, not other types of bulbs.

I would cut it down to just two T5HO bulbs, and you should be fine. You could try a noontime burst with a third bulb, but that might not even be necessary.


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## Sameer (Sep 30, 2007)

Dammit. Oh well. Well Im going to put all 4 on and see what happens. If algae or anything funny happens, then Im going to use just two bulbs. I really want one 10k bulb along the 6.5k. It just looks weird if only half the fixture is on. Thanks for the reply.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Sameer said:


> Dammit. Oh well. Well Im going to put all 4 on and see what happens. If algae or anything funny happens, then Im going to use just two bulbs. I really want one 10k bulb along the 6.5k. It just looks weird if only half the fixture is on. Thanks for the reply.


Can you not put one 10K bulb and one 6.5K bulb in one fixture?

I assume that the fixture can only run if two bulbs are in it.


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## Fishyfishyfishy (Mar 3, 2008)

First of all, what is the reason that you want to use so much light? There is definitely no need of that much light for a 16 inch deep tank. Why will it look weird if you took out 2 bulbs? What fixture are you using?

Lower the light and you will save some electricity and save your time trimming the plants.

I am using 1 T5HO bulb light on a standard 55g (21 inch tall) and my tank have been growing nicely for almost a year.


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## Sameer (Sep 30, 2007)

Darkblade48 said:


> Can you not put one 10K bulb and one 6.5K bulb in one fixture?
> 
> I assume that the fixture can only run if two bulbs are in it.


I meant to say that I got 4 6500k bulbs with it. I really wanted 1 10000k bulb too. I have to search for a place that sells bulbs for cheap, but just for a pair of 10k isnt worth it.



> First of all, what is the reason that you want to use so much light? There is definitely no need of that much light for a 16 inch deep tank. Why will it look weird if you took out 2 bulbs? What fixture are you using?
> 
> Lower the light and you will save some electricity and save your time trimming the plants.
> 
> I am using 1 T5HO bulb light on a standard 55g (21 inch tall) and my tank have been growing nicely for almost a year.


The reason I want so much light is because currently, theres not enough of it. It will look weird because only half the fixture is on, I guess it depends person to person on that. atm Im using 2 shop lights, T8s giving me 2.8 watts per gallon. I can see its not enough for several of my plants, perhaps your growing medium light/care plants if its going that great for you. Everything grows like weed for me as well, but its not enough for the higher tier plants I have. I dont care about electric, Im in an apartment. I do a frikkin huge water change every weekend, thats enough fresh water wasted if your looking in terms of that.


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## Jsu (Dec 4, 2009)

i've been running 63 watts of T5 and CF light in a 9 gallon tank for the past year and a bit. thats 7 watt/gal... i havent have any problems. other than plants growing like weeds. photo period 3 hrs on, 3 off and 5 hrs on.


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## kapelan (Apr 1, 2008)

Sameer said:


> Hey guys just purchased a t5ho for my 45 gallon tank. 4 bulbs, 6500k for a 45 gal tank. The depth is 16 inches I think. This equates to 4.8 watts per gallon. For t5ho the w/g rule does not apply, but I wanted to know if this was overkill. PEople say if theres too much light, even with high co2 you will get algae. I was hoping this would not be the case with me. I have a heavly planted tank with normal t8s. I have 2.8 watt/gal and everything grows like weed. The only thing is my aromatica is green and not the reddish/purple colour I wanted.


I'm using 216W T5 fixture years for my 55G tank.
The rule is simple:
increase light => increase CO2 and increase fertilizers.
For low light plants 216W is not required. In a fact we will spend all time for trimming plants.
I used 2 bulbs (from 216W) with Amazon swords, java etc...
For high light plants like Limnofila Aromatica 216 is good anough.
I've tried 10K bulbs - meanwhile the tank looks good, it does not work for planted tank. 
In a fact I've tried all kind of T5 bulbs (3500, 5000, 10000, 18000 and mixed) 
and found nothing is working so good as special bulbs for plants.
Any other bulb will promote an algae.
Now I'm using 216W for 55G with daily fertilizing and a lots of CO.
Twice a week check the level of Iron and Nitrate.
Plants are eating Nitrates, Potassium, Iron as creasy with this light, and if they are not provided -expect algae problem.


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## Sameer (Sep 30, 2007)

Thanks. Yea, Im EI dosing with high co2. Did a massive trim right before the lights came so right now I will see the results clearly. I also bought alot of rare plants that I cant wait to try out, they will arrive in a month or so. Some of the plants are low light to very high light.


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