musamusa1975
michael1975
Hi everyone,
I have yet another lighting question. (I used the search function and read up on previous comments...)
I recently purchased a 100 gallon aquarium that is roughly 49"x21"x27". I want to get artificial lighting for it--ideally without breaking the bank. I intend to put highland nepenthes in there. The aquarium store that sold me the tank has a fixture with four bulbs at 6500K, at $240. (They couldn't tell me the lumens.)
I went to Home Depot and saw a 4' long double fixture for about $120. I think the 2 bulbs cost around $60. As usual, there was nobody there that really knew what they are doing, and as you can see--I'm clueless too.
Today, I spoke with someone at a local plant store who suggested I buy a T-5 fluorescent bulb fixture. They have one at $135 which includes four 2 foot bulbs at 8000 Lumens (6500K). The salesman then suggested that, given the size of my tank, I upgrade to a fixture with 8 four foot bulbs at 40,000 Lumens for $400. --Apart from being out of my price range, wouldn't 40000 Lumens fry the plants?
So my question, is the $135 setup the best way to go?
Thanks for your time.
Michael
ps. From what I've seen, the price for the tank was pretty good--$100 for 100 gallons. If anyone lives in the SF Bay area, I'd be happy to pass along the store info. if you're interested.
I have yet another lighting question. (I used the search function and read up on previous comments...)
I recently purchased a 100 gallon aquarium that is roughly 49"x21"x27". I want to get artificial lighting for it--ideally without breaking the bank. I intend to put highland nepenthes in there. The aquarium store that sold me the tank has a fixture with four bulbs at 6500K, at $240. (They couldn't tell me the lumens.)
I went to Home Depot and saw a 4' long double fixture for about $120. I think the 2 bulbs cost around $60. As usual, there was nobody there that really knew what they are doing, and as you can see--I'm clueless too.
Today, I spoke with someone at a local plant store who suggested I buy a T-5 fluorescent bulb fixture. They have one at $135 which includes four 2 foot bulbs at 8000 Lumens (6500K). The salesman then suggested that, given the size of my tank, I upgrade to a fixture with 8 four foot bulbs at 40,000 Lumens for $400. --Apart from being out of my price range, wouldn't 40000 Lumens fry the plants?
So my question, is the $135 setup the best way to go?
Thanks for your time.
Michael
ps. From what I've seen, the price for the tank was pretty good--$100 for 100 gallons. If anyone lives in the SF Bay area, I'd be happy to pass along the store info. if you're interested.