Lighting for new planted tank

[Rhonda]

I have a new tank on it's way (55 gallon Acrylic) and I am pretty sure I need new lighting.  My current light in my 45 gallon tank is 24W, but I don't have live plants.  In my new tank, I am planning on a fully planted aquascape.  I am new to plant care so am choosing very easy plant options to start with.  I am not sure how much difference the wattage makes - I have read in multiple places and get differing information: 110W, 1W per gal, and 3W per gal.  The tank is 36"L X 24" H, it seems that would make a difference as well.  I'm also thinking I need one I can put on a timer.  Do I need one that slowly increases in brightness and then decreases?  There are too many options and I don't know what I "need" vs. "nice to have" for a healthy tank.  The more I research, the more "information" there is to sort through!

Thanks for any advice!

[Vince]

Check out the Fluval 6500K for planted tanks. All around a great light, with multiple setting controlled by your phone. 👍

[Chrisdis]

I run a Current Serene light kit on my 65 gallon and a fluval 3.0 on our 55 gallon. Both tanks are pretty heavily planted.  Both lights perform very good

[Blurb]

why a fluval3.0? its expensive, complicated and often I feel, overkill. No, you do not need it. It´s kinda "the new cool thing”. Seems to me a lot of people ”need” it more for themselves than for the plants.

Led lights are good and energy efficient. plants will grow with light. why complicate things- Buy a light, not necessarily ”The Light”.

Easy plants - easy light - easy tank - easy life! - enjoy tinkering with your new tank.

[gardenman]

I bought a Nicrew Skyled Plus aquarium light back in August for my quarantine tank and it's been great. The 48" one is typically under $50. I use a smartplug to control it.

[Chrisdis]

4 hours ago, Blurb said:

why a fluval3.0? its expensive, complicated and often I feel, overkill. No, you do not need it. It´s kinda "the new cool thing”. Seems to me a lot of people ”need” it more for themselves than for the plants.

Led lights are good and energy efficient. plants will grow with light. why complicate things- Buy a light, not necessarily ”The Light”.

Easy plants - easy light - easy tank - easy life! - enjoy tinkering with your new tank.

I actually got the 3.0 from a friend that bought it and decided not to use it. I bought it from him for a little less than half the price. I actually like the serene light better. 

[Levi_Aquatics]

I would start with one light and if you need more light buy a second.

[Blurb]

1 hour ago, Chrisdis said:

I actually got the 3.0 from a friend that bought it and decided not to use it. I bought it from him for a little less than half the price. I actually like the serene light better. 

Im not saying you shouldn't buy it. people buy it for different reasons. Some are into tech-stuff, some like to get new stuff to play with. nothing wrong with that. but it is not an easy light and it is somewhat the latest hype and gets recommended a little too easily, I think. 

[Rhonda]

The light I have now sits very close to the glass canopy and algae builds up heavily on the underside of the canopy (inside the tank above the water).  I am not sure if it is because it is so close to the tank, but I don't get algae on any other part of the canopy.  The Fluval and the Nicrew seem to be ones that sit very close.  The Current Serene light looks like it sits higher off the tank but wow, it looks very complex! 

So does the wattage, NM, K really make much difference?  I guess I'm more concerned about putting a lot of money into plants for them to all die because of poor lighting.  I would rather invest in a decent light up front.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions!

[Rhonda]

18 hours ago, Chrisdis said:

I run a Current Serene light kit on my 65 gallon and a fluval 3.0 on our 55 gallon. Both tanks are pretty heavily planted.  Both lights perform very good

Does this light (Current Serene)seem sturdy being so high above the tank?  It seems like it is reasonably priced for all that it does.

[Chrisdis]

4 hours ago, Rhonda said:

Does this light (Current Serene)seem sturdy being so high above the tank?  It seems like it is reasonably priced for all that it does.

It doesn't come with the bracket to raise it up. I bought those separately. Without the brackets it sits about 2 inches over the tank. But with or without the bracket it's very sturdy. And the programming looks complex but very easy to navigate. The remote has 3 sections main light, background light, and sound. Easier than the fluval for sure. 

[JPenguin12]

I have a planted 55 and have been using a Fluval 2.0 (without the fancy programming). My greatest struggle has been related to getting light all the way down to the bottom of the tank. The water dissipates the light and the further the light source is from the water, the less light there is to dissipate. I do not have a par meter, so I do not know how much light is reaching the bottom. I have found myself experimenting with low light, hardy plants. The faster growing plants can work well, but with plants, the quicker they grow, the quicker they can die (from lack of light from a power outage, etc). One trick to consider is using driftwood, rocks, etc to bring plants closer to the light.

One of the biggest factors for me is how waterproof the Fluval lights are. With the Fluval light closer to the top of the water in combination to having a HOB filter (which ends up being in close proximity to the light because 55s are so narrow), it may cost more money to constantly be putting out money for water-ruined lighting. Because the 2.0 is no longer available, I don't know what I would choose in it's place since the 3.0 is more expensive and I don't need the programming (I just use an outlet timer). Anyone have any suggestions (with the factors I described in mind)?

[Rhonda]

7 hours ago, JPenguin12 said:

I have a planted 55 and have been using a Fluval 2.0 (without the fancy programming). My greatest struggle has been related to getting light all the way down to the bottom of the tank. The water dissipates the light and the further the light source is from the water, the less light there is to dissipate. I do not have a par meter, so I do not know how much light is reaching the bottom. I have found myself experimenting with low light, hardy plants. The faster growing plants can work well, but with plants, the quicker they grow, the quicker they can die (from lack of light from a power outage, etc). One trick to consider is using driftwood, rocks, etc to bring plants closer to the light.

One of the biggest factors for me is how waterproof the Fluval lights are. With the Fluval light closer to the top of the water in combination to having a HOB filter (which ends up being in close proximity to the light because 55s are so narrow), it may cost more money to constantly be putting out money for water-ruined lighting. Because the 2.0 is no longer available, I don't know what I would choose in it's place since the 3.0 is more expensive and I don't need the programming (I just use an outlet timer). Anyone have any suggestions (with the factors I described in mind)?

I do plan to build up toward the back to give the illusion of depth and use driftwood too.  But the lower area toward the front will be shorter plants.  I don’t have a PAR meter either and don’t plan to buy one any time soon.  Thanks for the input, I know fluval is known to have good products.