Ideal lighting

[Dark Star]

I currently have a 55 gal. tank with one 50/50 light in the hood.
Cabin fever is getting the better of me and I think I want to construct a new wood hood with better lighting to get some plants going.
My question is, if you could have any combination of lights on a 4' long 55 gal. community tank, what would you choose.
I am good with wood and an electrician by trade, so I think I can crank out a hood to match my stand with ideal lighting so I can get some plants going.
Any advice on where to get ballasts and lamps would help too.

[NickFish]

My ideal lighting would be the Nova Extreme T5HO 48" 4x54w .
Although that is probably too much light for someone just getting into plants.

I would recommend you start out with something less intense like the 2x54w model. You can probably grow any plant you want under that lighting. I love the Nova Extreme set of lights. Might not be the engineering challenge you were hoping for but they're great.

If you decide to build it yourself I would still aim for the same thing, 2x54w T5HO, you can grow pretty much whatever you want with that.

The kelvin is pretty much up to you, although I think I get the best results using a 50/50 mix of 10000k and 6700k.

I can't help you on finding materials though, I've never attempted to build a lighting system by scratch. Sorry!

[Dark Star]

Thanks Nickfish.
I get what your saying about starting out and an established tank, two different setups. I think my best route would be to start the tank with one ballast and enable the second ballast and lamps after the tank is established.
What would you consider the ideal wattage for staring plants and established plants?
One of the reasons I am building the hood is so I can set it up just how I want it. I plan to hinge it down the middle with two lamps in the hinged section. and two in the stationary section. I will also set up a termination point for the heater and the filter in the hood with the timer up there too. Since its custom, configuration is only limited to what ballasts are out there. Depending on the weight and space, I may move the ballasts underneath the tank.