Suggestions on T5 Tubes?

[Funkmotor]

I'm in the process of setting up a plant tank, my first in a while, and I've decided to go with T5 lighting.  My reef experience with T5 has only been positive, so I don't see how I can lose.

The tank is a 56G column (24" deep), and the light will be a 2-foot ATI Sunpower  with 6 24W tubes.  I'm also going with CO2 injection right out of the gate.

Having 6 slots gives me a lot of room to move with different tubes and spectrum, and perhaps the highest light plant I've thought of so far is HC.  I would think the 144W would be enough for that without any problems.

So what tubes should I be putting in there?  I would think a mix of 6500 to 10000K would be okay, but if you've got any ideas or suggestions on what good 2' tubes are out there I'm certainly interested to hear them.

[charlie]

I'm in the process of setting up a plant tank, my first in a while, and I've decided to go with T5 lighting.  My reef experience with T5 has only been positive, so I don't see how I can lose.

The tank is a 56G column (24" deep), and the light will be a 2-foot ATI Sunpower  with 6 24W tubes.  I'm also going with CO2 injection right out of the gate.

Having 6 slots gives me a lot of room to move with different tubes and spectrum, and perhaps the highest light plant I've thought of so far is HC.  I would think the 144W would be enough for that without any problems.

So what tubes should I be putting in there?  I would think a mix of 6500 to 10000K would be okay[/i], but if you've got any ideas or suggestions on what good 2' tubes are out there I'm certainly interested to hear them.

That's a nice combo, it is widely believed the 10,000 K promotes a dense growth , i`m presently running a combo of 2 each Gieseman Middays & Aquaflora on one tank & one each of Midday, Aquaflora & a 10,000 K on another, the colour seem fine for me, maybe you can try 2 of each since you have a 6 bulb fixture.
I have not noticed any significant growth difference due to different  lamp spectrum's.
Regards

[fischkopp]

I have not noticed any significant growth difference due to different  lamp spectrum's.

Same here. Any difference I see is usually due to lack in maintenance and not following a consistent dosing regime.

Plants will grown in any spectrum between 2700 and 10000 K. How well the grow tend to depends more on the actual light energy brought into the tank, not so much the exact spectrum. You can pick the spectrum by to what is pleasing to you eye. I find that 6500K/daylight will give you the most balanced look; everything is very green. The Giesemann Aquaflora will let the reddish plants pop out a bit more. I run a combination of these bulbs at the moment and I am very pleased with it. I also have some 10000 K bulbs sitting around, but haven't actually tried them in my current tank. Maybe I will on the weekend ...

One note on your light fixture: try not to exceed 8-10 hours of light. I am currently running a 30gal with 6x24W and had a lot of issues when the lights were on longer than that. Ideally, if you can switch half of your bulbs off, have the full power only for 2/3 to 1/2 of the full duration. You will be able to grow just anything under these lights.

[Funkmotor]

One note on your light fixture: try not to exceed 8-10 hours of light. I am currently running a 30gal with 6x24W and had a lot of issues when the lights were on longer than that. Ideally, if you can switch half of your bulbs off, have the full power only for 2/3 to 1/2 of the full duration. You will be able to grow just anything under these lights.

For the photoperiod, I was thinking 12 hours in total, but not everything on for all that time.  I don't know how many of the 6 lamps come on with each switch as yet, but I'm thinking it might be 2 and 4.  If that's the case then 2 will be on for 12 hours and the other 4 will be on for 6-8 hours of that, perhaps split into chunks.

I suppose I should be starting a build thread...do you plant people do that?   

[fischkopp]

I suppose I should be starting a build thread...do you plant people do that?   

Yes, please do that! There are a couple already. I guess it's better to call them progress thread, once it's setup, the tank will change as it matures and plants grow in. But it's a personal decision to show all the stages of algae growth the tank goes through ... 

Play around with the light. Like so many things in this hobby: a lot of different ways will work, but none can be copied 1:1. Each setup is different. The art of planted tanks is to address these differences to keep an equilibrium.

[Adam]

Where did you get your T5 bulbs?

[Funkmotor]

Where did you get your T5 bulbs?

Haven't gotten them yet.  I'll get the fixture first.

As for where I might get them when the time comes, since the fixture will be from Ottawa Inverts I might get some tubes there, and I believe Ray keeps some FW tubes on hand.

If that fails, then I'll probably be forced to go retail.