# 60 gallon Lighting



## bmpower007 (Feb 11, 2005)

Hey guys I have a 60 gallon acrylic tank and everytime I buy plants they die in a week or 2. I have a flourscent 50/50 bulb and i keep it on about 5-8 hours a day. Now what kind of lighting will be suitable for keeping the plants alive in a 60 gallon how many watts and whats a good light fixture to get I dont want a reallly good one just something decent and not to cheap.THanks


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## CTREDBELLY (Apr 8, 2005)

planted tanks need 10-12hrs of light per day

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...WPROD&ProdID=25

for the gallons of water u have this will be the perfect light combo at a good price hope it helps kepe us posted


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## bmpower007 (Feb 11, 2005)

Thats a great price but I want something that wont make my room very hott or something that has built in fans.


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## CTREDBELLY (Apr 8, 2005)

bmpower007 said:


> Thats a great price but I want something that wont make my room very hott or something that has built in fans.
> [snapback]1009151[/snapback]​


that wont make your room hot at all.


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## bmpower007 (Feb 11, 2005)

Hye how about the JEBO 48" 260W Dual Strip Compact Fluorescent it comes with built in fans and moonlight.


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## CTREDBELLY (Apr 8, 2005)

that works fine also once u get past 4.5wpg it gets hard to control alge blooms


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## channafreak (Mar 27, 2004)

bmpower007 said:


> Hey guys I have a 60 gallon acrylic tank and everytime I buy plants they die in a week or 2. I have a flourscent 50/50 bulb and i keep it on about 5-8 hours a day. Now what kind of lighting will be suitable for keeping the plants alive in a 60 gallon how many watts and whats a good light fixture to get I dont want a reallly good one just something decent and not to cheap.THanks
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ditch that 50/50 light. Its good for growing problems.


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## edcal (Feb 19, 2005)

look into a Coralife Power Compact. They make a PC specifically for Freshwater Plant tanks. For a standard 60 gallon tank a Coralife 48" 2x65 watt would be perfect. It would fit the length of your tank and at 130 total watts, that would put your tank at alittle over 2 wpg (watts per gallon) Here is a pic of what the box looks like. Granted there are many other brands to choose from, Coralife is probably the most cheapest and I never had a problem with mine. Hope this helps...have fun shopping =)

this one pictured is a 48" 4x65 watts (260 total watts) but they make them in smaller wattages as well...good luck bro

oh and btw listen to channafreak. 50/50 bulbs are more suited for saltwater reef tanks not freshwater planted tanks


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## bmpower007 (Feb 11, 2005)

Ok guys I just bought the Coralife 48" 2x65 light fixture and Im going to be getting some plants on MOnday also do I need a c02 system?


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

At 2wpg you really should be quite fine without CO2.


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## bmpower007 (Feb 11, 2005)

Thanks a lot guys hopefully plants start growing but I have another problem Im concerned about my tanks acrylic and Im probably gonna have algea booms and I was wondering how I can clean this without sctraching the tank I usually clean algea right now with paper towels"Bounty" lol all other scrapers scratch my tank.

Also my tanks Sand will that be a problem.


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## edcal (Feb 19, 2005)

Mag-Float makes a magnetic scraper set designed specifically for acrylic tanks. if you LFS dont carry them you can easily order it online at BiG AL's Aquarium Supplies The cheap option would be to use a new soft sponge. hope this helps bro


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