Is there a difference?
I'm looking at purchasing lights for a 5.5gal, 20L, 20H, and 33L.
Up till now I've been using single T8 bulbs, it's time for an upgrade.
Lighting Questions
Lighting Questions
How many watts/ gallon are recommended for tanks with & without CO2 to grow a wide variety of plants?
Is there a difference?
I'm looking at purchasing lights for a 5.5gal, 20L, 20H, and 33L.
Up till now I've been using single T8 bulbs, it's time for an upgrade.
Is there a difference?
I'm looking at purchasing lights for a 5.5gal, 20L, 20H, and 33L.
Up till now I've been using single T8 bulbs, it's time for an upgrade.
For a second, let's ignore the 5.5g to provide a simpler answer.
For the others, a range around 2 wpg can avoid high tech CO2 use, yet grow most plants. A range of 3-4 wpg should grow about anything, but will really need the balance of CO2.
Now....The 5.5g is a tank that shows why WPG is a bad rule to use. It will require more WPG than the others for the same king of lighting levels in terms of what it'll grow. I'd peg a tank this small more in the 5-6 WPG range for medium light, and closer to 10 WPG for high light.
Without getting totally geeky on it (and in the few minutes I have to type here) very small tanks and very large tanks break the rules of WPG. Small tanks - say under 10g - needing more, large tanks - say over 75g - needing less.
It is more accurate to look for lumens per square inch of tank floor, and even more accurate to use PAR since there is such a wide variety of lighting solutions (and relative outputs of lumens per watt) out there. Depths of tanks also are a factor, thought more rarely, making PAR reading the best...
For the others, a range around 2 wpg can avoid high tech CO2 use, yet grow most plants. A range of 3-4 wpg should grow about anything, but will really need the balance of CO2.
Now....The 5.5g is a tank that shows why WPG is a bad rule to use. It will require more WPG than the others for the same king of lighting levels in terms of what it'll grow. I'd peg a tank this small more in the 5-6 WPG range for medium light, and closer to 10 WPG for high light.
Without getting totally geeky on it (and in the few minutes I have to type here) very small tanks and very large tanks break the rules of WPG. Small tanks - say under 10g - needing more, large tanks - say over 75g - needing less.
It is more accurate to look for lumens per square inch of tank floor, and even more accurate to use PAR since there is such a wide variety of lighting solutions (and relative outputs of lumens per watt) out there. Depths of tanks also are a factor, thought more rarely, making PAR reading the best...
Dave
