# 55gallon



## roller03hockey10 (Oct 23, 2003)

Okay here is my plan to take over the world one tank at a time....

haha anyway I have a 55 gallon with plenty of brown algae. I was to creat a plant tank with a few red bellies in there. 
I currently just have the one long bulb on the tank and my plan was to remove that, save it for later date, and get to two smaller lights and just light one side of the tank. That way my reds can hide in the dark, and half the tank will be nice and planted.

anyway i am a complete novice.... i am sure price wise it would be cheaper for me to go with a low light plants so lower lights.... can i get specfics on exaclty what type of light bulbs i need to get and light fixtures....

next does uv. pass through plexi glass??? (i was thinking of laying a peice of plexi glass across the top of the tank for the lights to sit on.

o yeah i also have a gravel base. THANKS!!!!!


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

if you want to start a planted tank I would light up the whole tank with 1 wpg that way you can avoid CO2. Your fish will ge used to the light. I had 3 rbp with 4 watts per gallon at first they were afraid but they got used to it. Bulbs should be in range of 5000k - 10000k most people go with 6700k. Your gravel will do fine just dose the tank with florish products like excel and trace.

plexi glass should be no problem but you should lift the light a little for ventilation.


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

Get some crypts to start out with. They are the easiest to grow and you will see results FAST with them. Just get a couple to start out with and then move on to more. I have a piece of plexi on my canopy right now but its going to come off when i get off my a$$ and build my light into the canopy.


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## Ibanez247 (Nov 9, 2006)

When getting plexiglass make sure it isnt UV coated or resistant whatever lingo they use. I bought my plexi that covers my 125 at home depot and some of the plexi there is ment for window replacements, hence the UV protection. Amazon swords are good harty plant. Ive had the three in my tank for over 2 years now and still growing. The only plant I have never had an issue with.


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

I just got regular plexi glass. It is used for safety guards so it dont have any UV crap it in.


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

glass tops are better. They hold up a lot longer and easier to clean.

Depending on how much money you want to spend, will determine what kind of lighting you need. T12 or T8 are super cheap for the bulbs and fixtures. Power compacts will give you much more light than the T12 and T8's but cost a little more and are a harder to find. T5's are expensive but better for many reasons, but they are the hardest to find.


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