"Carmine J. Ventura JR" wrote in message
t...
Soory for the repost, had to adjust my e-mail settings. Here it is again:
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Hello fellow hobbiests,

I have a 60 gallon planted tank with a pressurized semi-automatic C02
system
running. Fish are very happy, plants are doing marginal. Currently I have
4-
30 watt flor( full size). bulbs with a reflector. One bulb is a cora life
,
2 are power glows and one is a aqua glow. The tank has a wood canopy (nice
quality-hate to loose it ). I am thinking I may have to scrap the current
lighting as I cannot add more than 1 more buldb at the max.
I REALLY need some advice on a good lighting system that will work well
under the hood. (BTW: 48inch clearance under the hood and about 8in. deep.

Any advice is welcome. If you have links to any good lighting systems that
you think would work well please forward them to me.

You could look at the T5 stuff which would mean junking everything you have
or you could stick with standard tubes & go to 42" 40W tubes. That said,
your starters may not be big enough to run 40W tubes - you'll need to check.

How old are your existing tubes? If they are more than about 12 months they
are almost certainly no longer working effectively. Also the Power glos &
Aqua Glos are not that bright - try a Life Glo or two. These are more
expensive but do last longer - about 18+ months.

Another option is to look for plants that require less light.. Your plants
also need iron , potassium & other elements & minerals in order to
thrive.Feed little & often.

Lastly, if you run an under gravel filter then this is not generally ideal
for plants - too much movement of water around the roots.

rgds

Iain