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Re:90 gallon plant tank, suggestions?
>First, is lighting. I have read most, if not all, of the available
>material on lighting, and for now I am planning to go with NO T-8
>flourescents. I am considering 8 tubes, for a total of 256 Watts, this is
>a little under the 3W/gallon rule, but wondered if it would be enough;
>especially considering that this 90 gallon is 24" high - maybe 10 would be
>better (boy that's a lot of tubes!)?
I have a 90 gallon, same dimensions, and I only use 4 NO flourescents (2
Philips Agro-lites and 2 Philips colortone 50's). I have about 14 species
of plants (5 Echinodorus spp., 2 Aponogeton spp., 1 Sagittaria spp, 3
Cryptocoryne spp, Nymphaea lotus, Bacopa caroliniana, and Hygrophila
difformis). They start to bubble O2 within 2 hours of the lights turning
on, and if rapid growth, blooms, runners and new red leaves on the
Echinodorus are any indication then the amount of light they receive is
enough.
I shoud also point out I add PMDD, CO2, and have a 4" loamy substrate.
I do believe 10 tubes would be overkill, and 8 may be unnecessary,
depending on the types of plants you wish to grow. If your plant list is
similar to mine, then 4 or 6 tubes will do the job. How about if you start
with 6, and design your hood to add more later, if necessary?