# new lights, t5 6700k, opinions wanted



## pbucch (Nov 18, 2008)

What do you guys think of this for my 55 gallon?

1.5 caps of flourish a day
pool filter sand
flourish root tabs

Can I run this light as it is? or do I ned to put the tops back on my tank?

No CO2 yet, I found an old welding tank in my garage, I am in the process of piecing a kit together, trying to keep it under $100.

Heres the pics:


























The lids i can put back on, if necessary, I like the look without them....










Here is a new plant im trying to get a carpet out of. according to my man at magic pet shop, I need to keep it trimmed short and it should look to grow laterally.


----------



## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

looks good. Maybe spread out some of the plants instead of having them all bunched together. What did you buy the tall plant on the back left as?


----------



## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Get all glass lids. It will save your light and prevent a lot of evaporative water loss (not to mention keep the fish in the tank). I hope by dosing Fluorish you mean Fluorish Excel! If that is the case, then you should be okay without CO2. Fluorish Comprehensive should only need to be dosed a couple times a week at 1 cap.


----------



## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

I agree that you need to back off your flourish dosing. Also, you need to make sure your nitrates and phosphates don't bottom out by checking water params.

I also agree that the plant you want to carpet will do so much better, and faster, if it was spread out instead of bunched together.
I have a massive carpet of the same plant. If you buch it up, it will try to outcompete itself and mostly grow vertically instead of laterally.

I planted it 1 branch for every 1" Where I wanted it to carpet. Hope that helped


----------



## pbucch (Nov 18, 2008)

Thanks for the tips. I will look into the glass lids, maybe at hte swap meet in february.

I am talking about flourish excel, *is a cap a day ok? put it in after the lights go out?*

plant in the back left is a giant hairgrass.

It will need to be rescaped, I wanted to grow a thick section on one side and have it more open on the other, I will be working on it soon. My excuse is that I had 5 rbps in there until yesterday, and they would frequently whip around and uproot a lot of the plants, so I would just quickly stick the stalks back in.

I am nervous to take that small new plant out of the pot, but dippy, I will take your word for it man. I will attempt this within the next two days. My plan is to find a piece of driftwood, prepare that, and then rescape. I am off to read my Amano principles of scaping book now.

I am thinking about consolidating the microswords into one area, I am confident they will begin to grow with this new light. I will keep this thread updated.


----------



## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

follow the directions on the bottle of the excel. Its like 1 cap for every 10 gallons initially than after that just 1 cap per 50 gallons every day or every other day.


----------



## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

I have the same lamp as you on my 55 gallon, works like a charm, nice good growth. I don't have glass lids at the moment but I do have a canopy. I would get the glass lids, the water spray and evaporation gets into the fixture.


----------



## Ibanez247 (Nov 9, 2006)

Looks nice. I would get a lid as others have said. IT keeps the water from evaporating so quick in the winter months and its a good safety thing so you dont have to worry about the light falling in or getting water splashed on it. As far as dosings go. I dose excel everyday 1 capful in my 55. It says to dose 1 cap for every 10 gallons on water changes greater than 40% I believe at work so I cant look at my bottle heh. I also dose flourish comprehensive once a week. Been using both in my 125 for two years as well and always had good luck. For some reason my vals didnt like the excel though. They basically melted. Could have been something else but thats what happened. Will look nice when you get a blanket going.


----------



## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

maknwar said:


> follow the directions on the bottle of the excel. Its like 1 cap for every 10 gallons initially than after that just 1 cap per 50 gallons every day or every other day.


You can safely add 1-2 caps for your 55g. I overdose my Excel tanks a bit to keep algae at bay and in case I miss a day.


----------



## pbucch (Nov 18, 2008)

hell yeah, thanks for the responses guys I appreciate it. Ive got tons of driftwood here, but its all from the long island sound, I am going to see what is necessary to get it ready for my aquarium tonight. Thats when the replanting will be going down.


----------

