Tank Lighting

So, I don't understand lighting of tanks.

What is:

Volts?
Watts?
T1-T5
Floglo
Etc

I really need to know this as I'm going to go and buy my lighting equiptment this weekend.
Can anyone explain to me exactly, especially the T1-T5 what that means.

Any suggestions on how to light my tanks?
I have a 100L (3Ft) and a 15L nano that I wnat to light up like newyears evening.

Seriously though, I want my plajnts to grow and flourish! Not die and wither away becomming whispers of yesterday.

Please help! I'm gonna buy the actual light equiptment as well (the transformers and so on) so please suggestions on that too!

Xoxo

 

Well, what plants do you intend to grow, because intense light means they will need more care- nutrients and CO2 etc.

Watt= Usual length of the tube and the size ballast needed to power the tube.
T5 are bulbs that are thinner then T8's. They put out more and usually last longer. T8 are the opposite, but are IMO just as good.
Floglo- the type of output the bulb has. A good light for plants has a Kelvin of 4200k. Different bulbs like sunglo have 10000K output, this causes algae because the light spectrum is different.

Hope you can make sense of that.
HTH

 

As a lighting beginner myself I would suggest starting low. I have a 3ft too. I bought 2 ballasts & 2 10000k white lights. Waaaaaay too much. After some advice from the guys & gals here I switched off 1 light. No more algae, plants are much happier (although I only have low light plants - Java moss & ferns, and some stuff that floats (Hornwort I think) - didn't want to get too technical to start off with). Lighting is good for my tank, would probably be for yours too.

 

i'd get 2x t5 24w's to start with..

why t5's and not t8's?
t5's last longer than t8's (abt a yr vs 3 - 6months)
t5's are brighter
t5's are smaller in profile
t5's have better penetration

t5's are more expensive though.. balasts and tubes.

i havnt tried the others (t1's etc) though..

oh and also get a good reflector else paint the onside of your hood white..

like desertconvert said, dont go shoving massive lights under your hood.. this may cause big problems with algae since you dont have a stable co2 supply..

confused yet? just rem to start small. when u get the hang of it, do more research and make the necessary changes..

 

So shall I get 2 36W ballasts and 2 T5 tubes? No funny colours of tubes or so on?

I just put in 2 mangrove roots. Looks pretty, how long does it take for them to sink on their own? I'm holding them down with rocks now.

I've never seen on the boxes the Kelvin thing what does that mean? Does it show it somewhere?

Any paricular brand you guys suggest?

 

im not sure about the balasts becuase i bought a complete balast with plugs etc take a look at my DIY:

http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?6453-DIY-54W-T5x4-Lights

basically kelvin is the colour of the tubes.. they not a very reliable measurement, but its a good indication..certain kalvins fulfill the spectrum of light needed by plants..

on the cheap, get daylight 6500k lights.. i think osram and phillips has them..

dont get any funny colours like blue etc.. the only colour that is ok is the growlux tubes/similar ( tubes for plant growth) and they may be pink.. this spectrum is good for plant growth and red plants.. i would mix daylights and grolux tubes together to get a better visual on your tank though..a pink tank is not cool

roots take anything from a month - a year.. also, dont just pop any root into your tank.. has it been treated yet? where'd u get it from?

 

I bought them at a petshop. The are treated and I let them soak in water for a week to let them leech. They still don't sink though.

Okay I'm gonna go to petstop. I'm sure they'll help me figure out the ballasts to use etc.

Thanks so much for the help guys, I think I understand it all a bit better now.

 

He,he....You know we wil @Milamber... Will run you through the whole way to do a nice planted system.... Pop in tomorrow if you can and I'll show you the basics...

Shawn

 

Okay will do @azurekoi I will do. Then I van at least start plannig da budget!

see u guys tomorrow!

 

@azurekoi Thanks for the help will definitely get that light you showed me.

Please thank Didi for his help regarding the new stock you guys received for me too.

You guys ROCK.

 

Always a pleasure mate...