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Arcadia Lighting

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CrispyCod

Member
Joined
25 Feb 2011
Messages
25
Hi All,

I am looking into purchasing the arcadia AM554F for my 120L tank (115 x 34 x 31), which comes with 2 T5 54W.

This gives me 4WPG, which I know is pretty high, (I will be using pressurised Co2, so maybe not an issue if i fert correctly? however if I only use 1 of the bulbs, Im thinking the light is a little low for the type of plants I want. Is there any way of using lower wattage tubes in this Luminaire (it fits perfectly on my tank.)

Has anyone done this before? Is it just a matter of swapping out the ballast, and making my own mounts for the smaller tubes?

Another way may be to split the wiring and have the two tubes run seperately, so I can have a short intense period during the day?

Thanks for your help.

CrispyCod
 
Hi,
First of all, there is no aquatic plant in the entire world that needs more light than the radiation generated by 2X 54W T5 over a 30 gallon tank. That is strictly a myth invented by megawatt-loving Klingon Space Cadets of the Alpha Quadrant.

In any case, to answer your question, yes if you can get a lower wattage bulb to fit in the luminaire then it will work just fine.

Cheers,
 
I did state that i was planning to only use one of the bulbs. Giving 2 wpg. I had assumed that was classed as medium high lighting. I was was hoping to get 2 39 w as also suggested above but With one only on for a few hours.
 
2 x T5s the length of tank (39w) would be ideal & is the standard recommendation.
2 x 39w will grow any plant very well, you might just want to adjust the lighting period to 6-7 hours a day as your tank is pretty shallow.
However the depth is ideal if you want a nice carpet of low growing ground cover then 2 x39w will do a great job.
 
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