[LouiCypher]

I'm having trouble keeping my plants healthy and I'm positive it's because I dont have enough lighting. Has anyone had experiece with using metal halide lighting or something like that? I need about 250 watts of light under my conditions. Are there flourescent bulbs that powerful? And if so, can I still use my ballast that has a 60 watt in it?

 

[SnowCichlid]

what kind of plants are we talking about here? are your fish having fun chewing on them or uprooting them?

possibly you may benifit from some plant grow

 

[jabster]

What size tank do you have?

Anyway, metal halides are HOT! Plan on top offs if using those, and have a decent amout of clearance. But, they will easily get you the wattage you want, and lots of usuable emissions. Also, power compacts can achieve it, depending on tank size. Power quads are pretty compact, about the footprint of a 10 gal, and 96 watts each. http://www.hellolights.com/185cfquadret.html Search around that site for other lighting options as well. Some of the best prices AND quality you can find. There are other PC configurations to fit the lighting you want, depending on tank size, and they are quite a bit cooler than halides. I have some SW plants (macroalgae) that grow like mad under PCs.

And no you cant use on your current ballast. Unless you have a HUGE foot print you will not get that kind of wattage out of normal output flourescents,

 

[LouiCypher]

I originally had the plants in my 300g but have now moved them into my 120g and the footprint on that is 72x19x20. I have three different swords (ruffle, amazon and green melon). I have a saggittaria(sp) and lastly I have some kind of ... I dont even know what it is(very hearty and strong stemmed).

Unfortunately I only have .5 watts/gal on that tank right now and as far as I can tell I need at least 2w/gal. The hood that came with the tank housed two ballasts but only one bulb so I put two more 15w lights (flouro's) from my 55g on there too.

If I were to use halides I wouldn't have a problem with clearance or heat and this gets me thinking...could I use an HPS or would the light look too yellowish?

I plan on constructing a custom canopy for this tank and I'm sure I could come up with something to house a a couple halides. How hot would a 120-130W halide get?

So, recommendations please... keep in mind I'm a student and I'm poor.

Thanks.

 

[NIKE]

sorry dude can't help you my p's shred them faster than i can buy them

 

[Innes]

I think that since you are one of the members working on the plant forum you should be asking this sort of question in their, and then if nobody gives you an answer you can make up a new post and explain all that you find while doing research

 

[readingbabelfish]

I have a power compact system on my 75g. I was using it on saltwater but got some metal halides for the salt and switched the power compact to the p tank. I have 260 watts total going into my tank. What I found to really help is a CO2 injector. I bought mine for 20 bucks. I can really tell the difference. I would go with power compacts over mh because of the price. I would have spent double the money for mh than on my pc. Good Luck!