Lighting...need some help!

[DankTank]

I have a 55 gallon tank. In it i have about 10 potted plants of all differnt kinds and am hopeing to get more soon. The problem that i have is i have bad lighting i think. I have read that you need 3 wats per gallon. Well i have a 2 bulb system that is 48inches. One bulb is a FLORA-GLO 40W with a LUX of 220 ( dont reallk know what that means eather) the other is a AQUA-GLO 40W with a LUX of 130. Are these good brands? its all my fish store has. I know i need better ones, so can anyone help me with what is a good brand to get and how many wats. Also it would be great if you could tell me a good store to get lights from. Basiclay just tell me what i get and where to get it...lol. Lighting is all i need to complete my tank i even have C02...but now i am learing that lighting is the most important...so please a little help to a rookie...thanks

 

[jefftaylor]

i would try this site and see what you can find but here is what i would suggest if you have the money if not then maybe you can find something. This is the canadian site and price so im not sure where you are located, but Als is in canada and the US


http://www.bigalsonline.ca/catalog/product.xml?product_id=33777;category_id=1853;pcid1=1843;pcid2=

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

they have big al's in the US?!?!?!?!

 

[crissy7399]

I just purchased a retrofit kit from AHsupply.com. They have great reflectors that are very efficient. Maybe you could do a compact retofit kit with the hood you have now. My tank is a 46 gal and I did 1x96w kit, so I don't know what you would use for your tank. They have a phone number you can call during the weekdays, Kim usually answers the phone and he's pretty helpful.

having only 80watts really isn't enough since your doing the CO2, i'm doing it the natural way- no CO2, hence my lighting is at 2w/gal instead of 3. So you definitely need close to 165.

good luck!!