# planted 55



## psrotten (Jan 27, 2004)

i want to have a planted 55 and i need to know what kind of lighting ill need
any help would be much appreciated

the cheaper the better too, id like some jungle val and swords in there if possible to get away cheaply


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## burna (Feb 10, 2004)

you probably wanna do twin 48" flourescents. They say 2 watts per gallon, but I only have 2 18" bulbs on my planted 55 with val grass and swords and none have died yet!
I also got a 20lb. bag of that eco-plant substrate that is supposed to help with plants. You don't need the whole substrate to be that, plus it isn't much more expensive than other stuff.


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## psrotten (Jan 27, 2004)

i had a single flourescent on my 30long and my jungle val just turned brown and sorta fell apart


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## burna (Feb 10, 2004)

well, my tank is also kinda by the window, so I suppose that helps a little too. I'd go with double 48" flourescents. Or if your worried about freakin out your p's, you could just put plants on half the tank, and only use twin 24" bulbs. That's my eventual plan.


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## channafreak (Mar 27, 2004)

Get some allglass hoods and the twin 48" stiplight. The bulbs are 40watts each to give you 80. I put the two 15 watt striplights that came with the tank behind the 48" strip for a total of 110 watts.


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## Husky_Jim (May 26, 2003)

psrotten said:


> i had a single flourescent on my 30long and my jungle val just turned brown and sorta fell apart


 Try upgrading your lighting with a second bulb or put at least a reflector to the existing one...


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## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

I have a planted 55 myself, I use 2 48" flourescent bulbs and all my plants are thriving. Get some pennywort my has been growing like crazy.


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## psrotten (Jan 27, 2004)

i found a 48 inch shoplight at lowes for 10 bucks, it takes 2 40 watters will this work??? what kind of bulbs should i get? substrate??


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## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

mine do fine in regular natural gravel substrate.


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## Trimma194 (Mar 20, 2004)

so yall dont think that only one light bulb will keep the plants growing healthy


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