does a 55 gallon long fish tank require.....?

Question

does a 55 gallon tank need 10 gallon lights on the top or 2 20 gallon light hoods im going to buy one from my friend but it dont have lights for it so i got to figure out which ones i need to buy thanks

Answer 1

A 55 gallon tank is 48 inchs long. You can get either a single 48 inch hood or two 24 inch hoods. Here are some of the different possibilities available:
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/product/categoryInfo.web?options.passInCategoryKey=22943

You should plan on 3-5 watts of light for every gallon of tank volume (low amount for fish only, higher amount for plants)

Answer 2

I use flourescent shop lights over my tanks. I built my own racks in the basement and have 9 tanks on two racks with 4 shop lights giving all the light that is needed.

If you are going for looks, get the 24" lights. If you don't care what it looks like, go with a shop light ($10 at Home Depot). The bulbs (tubes) are cheaper with a shop light (2 for $6-7). You don't need those specialty lights ($30 each for the 24" size) that the fish stores will try to sell you (bulbs are about $15 each too).

Most of my tanks don't have covers on them either. Of course I have mostly cichlids and they stay pretty much near the bottom of the tank. I do have covers (4 out of 25) on the tanks that house my pricey fish, though. I haven't had a fish jump out in over two years.....knock on wood.

Answer 3

20 gallon hoods is what my 55 gallon tank uses..

Answer 4

The undersized lights probably won't fit. You'll want a full cover because fish are jumpers.