Chris Rockstrom wrote:

HI.

I currently have a 72 gallon bowfront tank

snip

well, what I am thinking of doing, is ditching one of the stip-lights, (
having 2 up there, interferes with opening the top), and getting a 2x55
watts kitt from ah supply, for a total of 110 watts, over 72 gallons of
water.

I would like more of a variety of plants in my tank, yet still not have
to be too worried about algae outbreaks, co2, measuring different
levels of nutrients, etc. JUst basically keeping it real simple, yet
still being able to support a greater variety of plant life, and also
eat up some of my nitrates.

I'm wondering, at 110 watts:

1. ) is that going to be enough light, to get me into moderate light
plants (vs. low light)

I have this tank. It's main problem as a planted aquarium is it's depth-24".
This means that you need to be at the upper end of the range for whatever
you are targeting. I also hope you have long arms and a step ladder!

In my case, with bottled CO2, 3x55 AHS lights (a bit over 2WPG) was simply
inadequate. 4x55 (a bit over 3wpg) works fine.

In your case, 2x55 will give you about 1.5 WPG, which, because of the depth,
is comparable to about 1WPG in the 16-20" deep tanks that most people have.
This could work fine for you, but DO NOT DISCARD YOUR OTHER FIXTURES!!!! You
may want to experiment with higher light levels later, and you will regret
getting rid of them.

The good news with AHS is that it is easy to add single or double kits to
get the wattage you want. I started with a 1x55 and a 2x55, then added
another 1x55 to get my current system.