# 75 gallon planted tank lighting



## fishlover&lt;3

Put simply, is there a way that T8 or T12 fluorescent bulbs could be used on a 75 gallon planted tank? Can the light penetrate that deep into the tank? How many bulbs would I need, or are plants out of the question? Money is the issue here.


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## GaFishMan1181

If you get some low low light plants then some dual t-8's would keep them alive. They probably wouldnt flourish but they would stay alive. maybe some crypts or java ferns. I was running dual T5's on a 30g plant and my plants were doing crazy good. Then both bulbs burned out and i couldn't get anymore bulbs at the time so i switched to a single t8 for 2 months. It kept the plants alive but they didnt get any bigger. Some died but if my memory is right the java fern lived, all my crypts lived, i think the anubia lived, and some dwarf grass i had lived. i cannot remeber all the names of my plants, sorry. Do some research on the plants that require the lowest amount of light. plantedtank.net is a good site.


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## cichlidfeesh

I use a shoplight from lowes. Two T-8 lights, one aqua-glo and one 6700k bulb. I have an assortment of plants and all seem to grow well under these lights. Research what kind of plants you want to keep and then you can decide if it will work for you. I have temples, java fern, corkscrew grass, amazon chain sword, amazon sword, and some other plants I can't identify.


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## Maxima308

More lights doesn't always equal faster or larger growth. With more light the plants will consume more nutrients and require dosing ferts, they will also be limited to the amount of CO2 in the water which may require injecting CO2. I you just put too much light over a tank you may just end up with a algae haven.

I would research which plants you want to keep and go from there. A bulb in the 6500-6700k is good for plant grown.


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## GaFishMan1181

Very true. Watts to gallon is a good start to estimate what type of plants you can have and if you are going to need to inject co2. For very low light plants 1 watt per gallon is good. You could get 75 watts with t8's. Just not sure how many you would need. Once you start getting into the 2-3 watts per gallon is when you have to start thinking about co2 so your algea doesnt go crazy. Another thing is how deep the light can penetrate the surface so 1 watt per gallon of t8 would work better in a 12" tall tank than in a 18" tall tank.


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## Maxima308

The WPG is a difficult rating to give a proper measurement to. As you mention lighting a 12" vs 18" tank is going to have different requirements. Then you factor in that T5 lights are a more powerful light compared to a T8 at equal or slightly less wattage and they even make HO (High Output) T5s that will be more intense light but at the same wattage.

T8 fixtures and bulbs are going to be cheaper and bulbs are available locally in a variety of color spectrums.

For a 75 gallon planted tank with low-medium light requiring plants i would look at getting two 4' T8 shop lights. This will give you 128watts or around 1.7WPG. The best part is at HD, Lowes, ect.. they start out at around $20.


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## fishlover&lt;3

Thanks alot, I was looking at some t5 lighting and was told that the watts per gallon method doesn't really work for T5's. What is the amount of light I would need to look for a 75 gallon.


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## GaFishMan1181

Well that depends on you. What type of plants do you want to keep? Do you want to get serious and inject c02 in your tank? do you want a low tech set-up? it all depends on what you want to get out of the tank.

The watts to gallon is a crude estimate. Just a starting point to give you an idea. yes it works with t5 lighting.


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## FSM

watts per gallon doesn't account for tank dimensions or efficiency of the lighting


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## GaFishMan1181

Yeah thats why i said a crude estimate...We still need to know what type of plants he would like to keep and if he wants a high tech or low tech set up and how much time he wants to spend on his planted tank.


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## fishlover&lt;3

I do not plan on using CO2 injection and plants would most likely range from low to moderate light requirements. Nothing too serious but I would still like something that will allow plants to grow well.


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## GaFishMan1181

Honestly i would recommend you sign up at http://www.plantedtank.net and post this question in their forum.

Tell them you have a standard 75g tank and you would like plants that require low to low/medium light and you do not want to have to inject c02 (even though they will tell you it is easy). Also ask them plant recommendations. Seriously they are the best planted tank forum out there. They are what cichlid-forum is to the cichlid world just in the planted tank world.

If i had that tank and was going to go low lighting i would try something like 2x54 watt t5. Still i would definitly ask the guys at plantedtank.net. They know more about plants and lights then i do.


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## redblufffishguy

75 gallon plant tank. 4-65 watt PC bulbs.

t-5's will work just fine, but you will need more than one of them. does not matter if you inject CO2 of not, you are still going to need multiple bulbs to keep the plant alive. CO2 will give you better growth and color in the plants for sure.


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