Is this shop light good for 55 gallon planted tank?

[Mirene]

Hi All,
I have a 55 gallon freshwater planted tank and I bought a 3 bulb 48" T8 shop light from Home Depot - need your opinion.

I've got tree 6500K bulbs (3 x 2,750 = 8,250 lumens), a glass top, and light is suspended an inch or so on top of the tank.
I have CaribSea substrate and pressurized CO2, as well as dosing fertilizer once in a while.
Not sure if this is important: it is a community tank with guppies, rose barb tetras, neons ...

Do you think that I have sufficient light, and if yes, what plants can I have?


Shop light and light bulbs (click on the link to go to Home Depot website):
Philips 4 ft. T8 32-Watt Daylight Deluxe (6500K) Linear Fluorescent ALTO II Light Bulb (2-Pack) (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-4-ft-T8-32-Watt-Daylight-Deluxe-6500K-Linear-Fluorescent-ALTO-II-Light-Bulb-2-Pack-422963/203466587#)

Lithonia Lighting 3-Light Suspended Black Diamond Plate Fluorescent Shop Light (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-3-Light-Suspended-Black-Diamond-Plate-Fluorescent-Shop-Light-1243DP-RE/203300803#)


Estimated PAR values (based on an article from some other forum)

Distance from substrate: 18":
PAR | PAR adjusted for glass (PAR less 30%)
90 | 63

Distance from substrate: 15"
PAR | PAR adjusted for glass (PAR less 30%)
114 | 79.8

Thank you in advance!

[dsuperman]

I'm not a plant expert but i think you are in good shape with 6500k. You could grow many kinds of plants in that tank including java moss ,riccia fluitans,water sprite, anubias,crypts and vals.

[Mirene]

I'm not a plant expert but i think you are in good shape with 6500k. You could grow many kinds of plants in that tank including java moss ,riccia fluitans,water sprite, anubias,crypts and vals.

Thank you for a quick response! :wave:

[john fox]

I have a shop light under my 55 as I have 4 , 10 gallon tanks on the bottom rack and my plants grow well , I have hornwort ; java moss , fern , amazon sword , valseneria , duckweed and I just have regular bulbs , 9 hours a day .if u please add a little miracle grow to your water changes. 🍀🌴🌲🌱🍃🍁🌿🌵

[Mirene]

I have a shop light under my 55 as I h) , 10 gallon tanks on the bottom rack and my plants grow well , I have hornwort ; java moss , fern , amazon sword , valseneria , duckweed and I just have regular bulbs , 9 hours a day .if u please add a little miracle grow to your water changes. 🍀🌴🌲🌱🍃🍁🌿🌵

I have a few bottles of aquarium specific fertilizer, but will try mirracle grow when use up the existing supply (a few months at least). Thank you for advice though!