Lighting for a non-CO2 75 gallon tank? - MyFishTank.Net Freshwater Saltwater Aquarium Fish Forum

Surreal65 · 11-04-2009, 09:00 PM

Would 2x54w T5HO be adequate lighting for a 75 gallon tank without CO2?

I've read tons of posts, but can't seem to find an answer. I'm concerned that 2 T5 bulbs would be too much light and result in algae. I plan on adding pressurized CO2, but not for another 6 months or so.

I don't plan on keeping any fancy plants, mainly crypts, ferns, vals and hygro.

Thanks for any comments.

epond83 · 11-05-2009, 01:47 AM

That will be a decent amount of light, you may have algae problems until you set up CO2

Surreal65 · 11-06-2009, 06:34 AM

Thanks for the input. Do you think that running just one T5 bulb would be enough?

epond83 · 11-06-2009, 02:42 PM

i've never had T5's so i don't know for sure, but one would probably be enough light output for low light plants, however you might have to play with the hight of the unit to get a good spread on the substrate, and if you get too high then the amount of light weekens... tricky kinda thing.

I'm currently trying to learn how much spread a T5 gives at certain hieghts with a Tek reflector.

blamejames · 11-08-2009, 12:35 PM

you want so many watts/gallon that is what i have always been told and i think it is somewhere around 2-4 watts/gallon. I could be wrong about this. I am using the glo setup 2x54 on a 90 gallon and it works like a champ. But you should definitely get some sort of CO2 going because you wont see a lot of growth until you add that!

epond83 · 11-09-2009, 01:08 PM

watts/gallon is really only effective for T12 anything else it only gives an esimation. T8's put out a little more light per watt and T5's put out a ton more light per watt. So a 75 with 2wpg of T5 is going to be a lot brighter then a 75 with 2wpg of T-12.

11-04-2009, 09:00 PM	#1 (permalink)
Surreal65 Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: SC, USA Posts: 3	Lighting for a non-CO2 75 gallon tank? Would 2x54w T5HO be adequate lighting for a 75 gallon tank without CO2? I've read tons of posts, but can't seem to find an answer. I'm concerned that 2 T5 bulbs would be too much light and result in algae. I plan on adding pressurized CO2, but not for another 6 months or so. I don't plan on keeping any fancy plants, mainly crypts, ferns, vals and hygro. Thanks for any comments.

11-08-2009, 12:35 PM	#5 (permalink)
blamejames Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 51	you want so many watts/gallon that is what i have always been told and i think it is somewhere around 2-4 watts/gallon. I could be wrong about this. I am using the glo setup 2x54 on a 90 gallon and it works like a champ. But you should definitely get some sort of CO2 going because you wont see a lot of growth until you add that! __________________ _______________________________________________ 90 Gallon 4ft Glo balast 6 jumbo neon tetras 6 glolite tetras 3 lamp eye tetras 5 algae shrimp 4 cherry shrimp Plants Amazon Swords, Java Fern, Lace Java Fern, Dwarf Pygmy Micro Swords, Anubias Nana, Crypt. Spiralis. _______________________________________________

11-05-2009, 01:47 AM	#2 (permalink)
epond83 Medium Fish Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 424	That will be a decent amount of light, you may have algae problems until you set up CO2

11-06-2009, 06:34 AM	#3 (permalink)
Surreal65 Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: SC, USA Posts: 3	Thanks for the input. Do you think that running just one T5 bulb would be enough?

11-06-2009, 02:42 PM	#4 (permalink)
epond83 Medium Fish Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 424	i've never had T5's so i don't know for sure, but one would probably be enough light output for low light plants, however you might have to play with the hight of the unit to get a good spread on the substrate, and if you get too high then the amount of light weekens... tricky kinda thing. I'm currently trying to learn how much spread a T5 gives at certain hieghts with a Tek reflector.

11-09-2009, 01:08 PM	#6 (permalink)
epond83 Medium Fish Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 424	watts/gallon is really only effective for T12 anything else it only gives an esimation. T8's put out a little more light per watt and T5's put out a ton more light per watt. So a 75 with 2wpg of T5 is going to be a lot brighter then a 75 with 2wpg of T-12.