# 1500-2000 k lighting



## RevoBuda (Sep 3, 2011)

By no means do i pretend to be any expert... but i was wondering if anyone can help me figure out a way for me to create a fixture in a cost efficient manner for my 30 inch deep 150 g tank? I currently am running 4 T5 HO bulbs and barely getting enough juice out of them. I figure i need to get up to 15000k or 2000k to make the planted tank thrive. Any idea would be greatly appreciated. 

i have gone as far as looking into tubular skylights, but where the tank is in the basement won't make it work...


----------



## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Some 0's on your numbers are missing.

Blue light penetrates water much better thank Red (5000K Full Spectrums) or Yellowish (6700K) bulbs. Even though Red Light supposedly promotes maximum photosynthesis, and the yellowish light is supposed to be a balanced looking light based on noon time sunlight with some growth properties still. An 18000K bulb will look very unnatural in a planted tank, with its purplish light, but it could probbably blast that light all the way down to the bottom of that tank. It just looks so cold... so might have to combine with at least one 10000K or something?

So I guess besides MH, or some crazy LED with tight beam optics. Replacing your bulbs is simplest. And by reading you post, it sounds like you already knew all this... so thanks for just letting me ramble a while as I couldnt sleep tonight.

I had no idea your tank was in the basement when I was mentioning Tubular Skylights to you.


----------



## RevoBuda (Sep 3, 2011)

Thanks Will.. the tubular skylight was just an idea i was going with... hoping i could jimmy it to a vertical wall. So i guess the best choice is to upgrade my bulbs huh?


----------



## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

This is another reason to avoid 30" tall tanks (or at least take into consideration before buying one), besides the difficulty on working on them.


----------



## RevoBuda (Sep 3, 2011)

Well theres not much i can do about that now... does anyone know the cost difference for running metal halide vs. 4 t5 ho?


----------



## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

If the wattage is the same, he electrical usage will be the same. Both types of lighting can be very expensive, especially if bought in aquarium specific formats. Ditto for the bulbs/tubes. Usually you can find cheaper alternatives in the general marketplace as opposed to the aquaria market. Perfectly suitable tubes and bulbs are available in the commercial/industrial supply stores, usually for significantly less money.


----------



## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

30" isn't as bad as you'd think. It just depends on the type of setup you're trying to create. A good scape can get by with 4 T5HO with no issue.
As for the difference between a metal halid and a T5HO, you can pretty much see the difference. You get limited area coverage with a metal halid. For about the same wattage, a T5HO can cover the entire tank.
You may also have to deal with the heat issue with a metal halid in the summer. With a T5HO you don't have that issue.
Electicity consumption for a metal halid will always be more than T5HO. This is because you will always need more wattage for a metal halid to produce that same result of a lower wattage T5HO.

*Never pay again for live sex! | Hot girls doing naughty stuff for free! | Chat for free!*


----------



## RevoBuda (Sep 3, 2011)

so i suppose my best option is to rescape the tank in a method where i can get less depth and upgrade my lamps to 10000k. thx for all the input guys, greatly appreciated!


----------



## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

Going to 10000K is not an upgrade if you want to grow plants. You still need lighting of the correct wavelengths for optimum plant growth and you might find the 10000K is not covering the red as well as a 6500 or 5000K would. You really have to check the specs of the tubes/bulbs you are interested in as even tubes of the same colour temp from different manufacturers, can have radically different performances. The large difference in CRIs from different manufacturers may be an indicator of whether the tube has an acceptable amount of red and blue light of the correct wavelengths.


----------

