# Affordable lighting for planted tank



## livrpoolsoccr (Oct 31, 2012)

Bought the girlfriend a 17 gallon frameless tank for Christmas. She's wanted a really nice planted tank for a while, but since my tanks have cichlids in them, our plant choices have been limited mostly to anubias and swords that are leathery enough that they can't graze on them. The tank is 23x12x14, and the only thing that will be left to purchase after Christmas is a light fixture. My family is going to pay for some of the lights, but if we go with anything too expensive, she or I may have to contribute. Was thinking t5 ho would be a good route. Anybody heard anything about Coralife or AquaticLife lighting? Or any other suggestions. I am open to LED also, but from what i was reading, you pretty much have to cover the entire top of the tank with them. Definitely open to any suggestions. Would rather pay a little more for better results, but for such a shallow tank I wouldn't imagine a 300 dollar t5 would work much better than a 150 dollar light.


----------



## Borsig (Nov 21, 2012)

24 inches? get a finnex ray 2 LED.

Heck even the super quad bright beamsworks are nice. 24" is cheap.


----------



## AfricanLove (Jan 2, 2012)

I'm a supporter of the Current USA Satellite LED +. What you want to do is probably low light correct? Low tech no pressurized CO2?


----------



## livrpoolsoccr (Oct 31, 2012)

Low tech, at least to start. We will see how much sh. wants to invest as far as time/money go before we look into co2 and all that fun stuff. Main objective is to give her a tank she can put some less destructive fish and some decent plants. Will probably evolve from there, but looking for a good starting point.


----------



## pancakeloach (Feb 4, 2008)

You're not going to want to go as affordable with low tech as I did - $10 dual T8 shop lights just don't look classy enough for a rimless.  









I'd go with LED over T5HO for low-tech if I were upgrading to something more elegant!


----------



## livrpoolsoccr (Oct 31, 2012)

No, don't want to go quite that low tech, but I am sure she would be okay with a less than aesthetically pleasing light if her plants looked like that. She has been obsessed with planted tanks since I got her hooked on the hobby, my Malawi tank Brichardi tank just aren't very conducive to lush plant growth. Looks like the consensus is LED though. I prefer the looks of them, I was just worried because I had heard that they don't disperse light as well, so it essentially has to be directly over the plant. How much truth is there to that? Looked at the LED's you guys have mentioned, and they certainly look appealing.


----------



## ChuckinMA (Aug 24, 2013)

Not sure who is paying the electric bill, but the LED's also consume less wattage so you can justify some of the initial higher cost outlay  There's also a shimmering effect in the water with LED's that's hard to describe, but visually very appealing. I vacillated earlier this year, but glad I finally went with LED.


----------



## AfricanLove (Jan 2, 2012)

First off I really like the features the USA Led + has. I believe ot is one of the only LEDs with RGB diodes. Second off have you considered what your doing for substrate


----------



## livrpoolsoccr (Oct 31, 2012)

She has talked about sand or the planted black aquarium substrate. Possibly dirt, but i would defiinitely have to research that before we attempted that. Be nice to try it out small scale though and see how we like it. Will be a finer substrate though.


----------



## AfricanLove (Jan 2, 2012)

If you plan on doing heavy root feeders like swords or Crypts and ect. I would heavily recommend dirt with a fine gravel or sand cap. You could get dirt right out of your backyard, or use Miracle grow potting soil but that has alot of ammonia in it that needs to be removed. If you have any questions you can PM me


----------



## StangG20 (Aug 12, 2013)

i purchased a planted tank from craigslist. it came with a finnex ray2 as someone else mentioned above. it also has eco complete substrate which might be something you can look into.


----------

