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-   -   Is this shop light good for 55 gallon planted tank? (http://forum.brooklynaquariumsociety.org/showthread.php?t=1728)

Mirene March 11th, 2014 05:15 PM

Is this shop light good for 55 gallon planted tank?
 
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)

Lithonia Lighting 3-Light Suspended Black Diamond Plate Fluorescent Shop Light


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 March 11th, 2014 08:33 PM

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 March 11th, 2014 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsuperman (Post 3898)
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 March 16th, 2014 04:52 PM

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 March 16th, 2014 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john fox (Post 3909)
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!


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