# 24" Inch deep tank lighting suggestion



## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

None of the above, in my experience.

I ended up with 2 x 2 bulb t5s over my 24" cube plus a Current Satelite Plus.

3 x Satelite PRO over my 36 x 18 x 18, currently at 75% power, seem to be enough for me.


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## mourya (Dec 12, 2017)

That is super expensive stuff, to buy 3 of those.

Fluval 2.0 or the latest 2018 edition ?? Will it suffice 1?


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## Wobblebonk (Feb 13, 2018)

mourya said:


> That is super expensive stuff, to buy 3 of those.
> 
> Fluval 2.0 or the latest 2018 edition ?? Will it suffice 1?


No it won't cover 36x24x24 that well, that's a large footprint for a single bar light...
If you want a single light for that you probably can get away with hanging one of those chinese black boxes/sbreef style lights maybe?


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

Unless you can build LED lights yourself, using them on a 34x24x24 to grow HC will not be cheap.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

https://sbreeflights.com/sbox-fw-plant-lights/34-sbox-pro-32-timer-fresh-water-plant.html
Sat PRO plus in your size is $243...........

Above is $309.........

2 of these for tot. $100 should get you about 50PAR at the bed...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LFF0878/ref=twister_B01LFF08QO?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1


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## KrypleBerry (May 23, 2017)

I have a 24"x24"x24" cube tank that i had trouble finding lighting for. This is what I ended up with, couldnt be happier for 60 dollars. It gives high light but lenses can be removed for more spread and lower light. 2 year warranty and US store. 
https://www.21ledusa.com/Flood_light_100w_6000k_day_white_p/fl100w.htm
After using flood lights I doubt Ill try strip leds again. As a bonus I get nicer shimmer in my tank than our local shops tanks using kessils. That flood saved me over 200 dollars. I removed the lenses on mine and raised it up for medium light. I made the shield on the fixture to prevent blinding the room after raising the light. GreenThumbScapers is my name on IG so occasionally you will see a watermark of the name on my photos.


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## mourya (Dec 12, 2017)

jeffkrol said:


> https://sbreeflights.com/sbox-fw-plant-lights/34-sbox-pro-32-timer-fresh-water-plant.html
> Sat PRO plus in your size is $243...........
> 
> Above is $309.........
> ...


So if I go with two of the BeamsWork DA FSPEC will that work out in my case? Is 50 PAR sufficient lighting for carpet in 36x24x24?


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## aqua_rob (Jan 8, 2018)

Following...
I have a 54 gal corner bowfront that's about 22 inches deep. I'm running a Planted+ and a Planted+ CC. They are 24 " from the substrate, I'm hoping they are giving me high light but I don't really know

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

mourya said:


> So if I go with two of the BeamsWork DA FSPEC will that work out in my case? Is 50 PAR sufficient lighting for carpet in 36x24x24?


I'm not going to commit but think so.. Others can chime in..

adding CO2 will guarantee it..

https://barrreport.com/threads/ada-lighting-at-aqua-forest-and-nice-low-par-values-who-knew.4865/


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## mourya (Dec 12, 2017)

jeffkrol said:


> I'm not going to commit but think so.. Others can chime in..
> 
> adding CO2 will guarantee it..
> 
> https://barrreport.com/threads/ada-lighting-at-aqua-forest-and-nice-low-par-values-who-knew.4865/


Thanks Jeff, I really have super good substrate and Co2. I does ferts regularly too. Just the light part, hope with all that and 2 of these it should be good. I read there is a timer for this, but couldnt find where i can buy one for these.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

mourya said:


> Thanks Jeff, I really have super good substrate and Co2. I does ferts regularly too. Just the light part, hope with all that and 2 of these it should be good. I read there is a timer for this, but couldnt find where i can buy one for these.


topdogsellers on the bay usually has them.

Might want to check out DIY program options w/ a tc-420 or 421..


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## Kiwdahc (Oct 15, 2015)

Here are 2 images of my 24" depth corner tank. It has two Kessil A360WE Tuna Suns on it, and both have the intensity turned as low as possible which grows things great. I could easily turn up the intensity and grow HC Cuba on the floor with them but I have other plants like Anubias I am not trying to kill with GSA. I think these would work great for your depth.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

I would personally reconsider growing an HC carpet in a 24" tank.

1. Your have to push a lot of light to reach the bottom, which will give you much less wiggle room and flexibility with the rest of the tank in term of plant mass, stocking and maintenance in order to control algae.

2. It's physically difficult to tend to a carpet 24" down. It gets old fast. Your much better off using moss-covered rocks, crypts, anubias toward the bottom so you don't have to maintenance it that much.


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

Marsilea crenata is another one to consider. It doesn't need a lot of light and won't require trimming very often.


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## gus6464 (Dec 19, 2011)

HC is not a water column feeder so dosing ferts won't do much.

I would just buy 2x twinstar 900sp and call it a day.

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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

gus6464 said:


> 2x twinstar 900sp and call it a day.


For $600  and it's not even dimmable...



> LED Source : RGB-W
> Color Temperature : 6500K
> Lumens : 4900lm
> Power : 65watts


your joking right???

One could get that out of 2 COB's for $40.............

Or 4000 Lumens out of a $35 shop light LED.


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## gus6464 (Dec 19, 2011)

Yeah some people like the lights on top of their tanks to not look like crap put together in a garage.

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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

2 Fluval 3.0's are half that price

So too "haughty" to even offer dimming???
What a waste..
Guess they figure you are too stupid to have any control.

That is actually my main beef.. Pay more for less is not in my wheelhouse..

Get a Chihiros at least you can dim it..
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Chi...k-60cm-Length-A-1201-model/1000001373694.html


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

gus6464 said:


> HC is *not* a water column feeder so dosing ferts won't do much.


Is this a typo?


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## charlie 1 (Oct 22, 2006)

Jeff5614 said:


> Marsilea crenata is another one to consider. It doesn't need a lot of light and won't require trimming very often.


Another option is "Micranthemum 'Monte Carlo'", not as light demanding ,roots better than HC and similar look but a bit larger leaf IMO


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## Chlorophile (Aug 2, 2011)

New light https://imgur.com/gallery/pRvbv

Just got a quad t5 for 18 inch deep tank, impressed for sure so far.
79 bucks on Amazon


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## Qwedfg (Mar 7, 2012)

What they want for LED's is kind of crazy. I prefer LED's for convenience and appearance but you can't go wrong with t5. I would just get a 6 or 8 bulb t5 unit if price is a concern. I use an ATI t5 over my reef and I like it. I was reading some posts by plant brain and he says he doesn't even change bulbs until they burn out so you don't need to keep buying them ever 10 months like you do over a reef tank.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Qwedfg said:


> What they want for LED's is kind of crazy. I prefer LED's for convenience and appearance but you can't go wrong with t5. I would just get a 6 or 8 bulb t5 unit if price is a concern. I use an ATI t5 over my reef and I like it. I was reading some posts by plant brain and he says he doesn't even change bulbs until they burn out so you don't need to keep buying them ever 10 months like you do over a reef tank.


Actually don't need to replace them over a reef all that often either..at least per BRS tests...


https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/h...-out-your-t5-bulbs-brstv-investigates.360004/


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## Qwedfg (Mar 7, 2012)

jeffkrol said:


> Actually don't need to replace them over a reef all that often either..at least per BRS tests...
> 
> 
> https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/h...-out-your-t5-bulbs-brstv-investigates.360004/


Interesting. My zoanthids began to reach for light after 14 months of not replacing the bulbs due what I imagined was decrease in par. After replacing them they eventually returned to normal.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Qwedfg said:


> Interesting. My zoanthids began to reach for light after 14 months of not replacing the bulbs due what I imagined was decrease in par. After replacing them they eventually returned to normal.


If you note.. sometimes it depends on bulb/phosphor type..
AND it only went 1 yr (effective). They should have went 2 or , at least, 1 1/2....

Ballasts ect all play a role..

People report the same thing w/ fw tubes.. Never came up w/ any quantifiable evidence.. and most would point to the contrary.. yet "real world"
observations can't be ignored..

Bump: Back to HC...

Hmmm.. not to offer contrary advice but there is this:

https://barrreport.com/threads/hc-cuba-can-you-explain-this-problem.9409/


> Stick with lower light as suggested above.
> It is not really a high light plant, I've seen many nice examples using minimal lighting and excellent long tern results, dosing has been very wide ranging.
> 
> #3
> Tom Barr, Apr 4, 2012


https://barrreport.com/threads/h-callitrichoides-light-demand.3613/

Certain 50PAr at the substrate and CO2 is "adequate"..


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

What does this mean from that linked thread:

*"I've grown it fairly well at rather low light, using moderate light* and Excel in nano tanks has also proven very effective.

Poor CO2 and poor dosing/sediments seem to be the main issue as well as things disturbing it before it roots well.

Regards, 
Tom Barr"

Pretty vague and really isn't very valuable to anyone trying to grow HC.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

houseofcards said:


> What does this mean from that linked thread:
> 
> *"I've grown it fairly well at rather low light, using moderate light* and Excel in nano tanks has also proven very effective.
> 
> ...


Yea, he does that once and awhile.. A lot of personal experience like he has does sometimes lead to vague statements..

But I'd certainly consider CO2 "the most" crucial ingredient and adjust light accordingly..starting at >40..



> HC can be grown in low light; it has grown in levels as low as ~40mmol PAR.
> As has been stated before, the myth of high light HC exists because people who do high light usually push high CO2 to match.


Makes me want to try some but would need to mow one of the jungles..

point is.. don't always assume it is the light...



> Sounds like a CO2 problem rather than a light problem. Plants need to transition from emersed to submerged seems your didn't make it through the transition. HC does not need that much light I have gown mine with just 2T8 over a juwel vision 180





> It's much more likely that the amount of CO2 reaching the HC isn't sufficient. HC needs plentiful CO2 more than it needs loads of light.
> If you can position a drop checker down low, close to where the HC is, then that will tell you whether it's getting enough CO2.


https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/is-my-light-enough-to-grow-hc-cuba.40502/

more valuable???


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

jeffkrol said:


> Yea, he does that once and awhile.. A lot of personal experience like he has does sometimes lead to vague statements..
> 
> But I'd certainly consider CO2 "the most" crucial ingredient and adjust light accordingly..starting at >40..
> 
> https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/is-my-light-enough-to-grow-hc-cuba.40502/


Yeah he does "fairly well" also doesn't say much, most want a nice low carpet. Fairly well could be sparse, reaching for the light a bit. There's growth and there's GROWTH. 

I do agree with you that 50 should be plenty with good co2.

There's all kinds of situations where HC might grow fairly well, but overall medium to high light and co2 is the way to go.

Here is a pico tank of mine. No filter, no co2, no water movement, yet the HC grew pretty well. 










But I wouldn't recommend those parameters on a larger setup for someone to be successful with it.


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## JimTemp (Feb 22, 2018)

I had contacted Kessil Lighting about lighting a planted tank with a 24" depth. I was considering using two A160WE Tuna Suns. This was their reply:

"You should be okay with 2x A160WE Tuna Sun. The light does penetrate 32" in depth if you keep it at our recommended height of 8 to 12 inches from the waterline. Since your tank is only 37" long, you will have some lighting spread overlap - this may be helpful for creating a hotspot. In general, our A360WE models are more popular due to i'ts ability to be flexible with your tank set-up. For instance, if you plan to go with just all high light required plants in the future, the 360 will come in handy for that."

I'm just now planning to set up a new 50 gallon tank with a 19" depth, and will probably be using 2 Kessil LEDs on a gooseneck - most likely the 160's.


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## Chlorophile (Aug 2, 2011)

I grew beautiful HC under a 27w flourescent solar mini M in an ADA mini M.
Tests indicated that light to be around 50 par at the sub I believe.
Good co2 is definitely the key and it grows well in any nutritive substrate afaik.
If using aquasoil I would recommend keeping to ADA style lean dosing while establishing the carpet especially when ammonia is still high.. 
Very susceptible to diatoms and other fast spreading algae and I've lost a fair share of HC back when I was big on iwagumi.


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## mourya (Dec 12, 2017)

Chlorophile said:


> I grew beautiful HC under a 27w flourescent solar mini M in an ADA mini M.
> Tests indicated that light to be around 50 par at the sub I believe.
> Good co2 is definitely the key and it grows well in any nutritive substrate afaik.
> If using aquasoil I would recommend keeping to ADA style lean dosing while establishing the carpet especially when ammonia is still high..
> Very susceptible to diatoms and other fast spreading algae and I've lost a fair share of HC back when I was big on iwagumi.


Could you please eloborate on what you mean b lean dosing while establishing the carpet? Do you mean fertilizer dosing should be bare minimum or ??


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## SingAlongWithTsing (Jun 11, 2015)

Temp: 68F/20C TO 75F/24C
Light: 40~50 PAR 
need good co2 ofc


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