March 6, 200620 yr comment_91436 Hey guys, Just a quick question - for a tank that's 19" tall, is a 15W light bulb sufficient? It's only being used for White Clouds, but I'm planning on planting it relatively heavily, so I'm guessing I probably need to splash out & get a new fixture + bulbs... Link to a pic of the tank is here - http://www.nik.co.nz/stuff/tank00001.jpg About 3" of the tank is covered by the hood, and at least 2" is covered by the base Report
March 6, 200620 yr comment_91454 HI aqua... Ira is right, you will need more light for plants Here is a "general rule-of-thumb which I reckon is a good place to start. less than 1/2 a watt per litre = "low light" 1/2 to 3/4 watt per litre = "medium" 3/4 + = "high" But remember balance You cant just throw extra tubes on and expect brillient plant growth, or no algae. HTH John Report
March 6, 200620 yr Author comment_91472 Well, the tank supposedly holds 100L (I haven't checked this, I'm too lazy), so I'd need upwards of 75W for a high-light tank? That seems too extreme, as there's only 30W in my AR510, and there's plenty of light there... Report
March 6, 200620 yr comment_91476 HI aqua, what are the dimensions of your tank? i am guessing it is about a 3footer (92cms)? If so that would be good you could fit a twin 30W fitting on top and that would give you 60 watts. Like i said... its a rule of thumb, something to get you started. If you put a twin 18W fitting (36W total) on your tank and you find the "red plants arent very red" or "my ground cover is growing really slow" then you would need to look at more light.but dont forget to consider plant nutrients, CO2 etc... You should also remember that the light you "see" is different to what your plants "need" . The human eye can adapt to a wide range of lighting intensities and colours, your plants are not so highly evolved. HTH John Report
March 6, 200620 yr Author comment_91508 Take a look at the link John, it's a hex-tank, but shaped like this: ----- | | \__/ If that makes any sense... I wouldn't have a clue how to work out the literage from that, but I was told it's 100L and it's 19" high... Report
March 7, 200620 yr comment_91600 Hi Aqua... Hmm tricky shape, my neigbhour has just 'aquired' a tank like that and the widest part is 3ft exactly (yours look smaller?) . So we cant put in 3foot T8's as you need about 20mm extra to plug the tubes into the lamp holders. Current thinking is to go either 2x39W T5 High Output which are 50mm shorter or a couple of 40watt Compact florescents. Both are available in "daylight " colour. So there are ways around it, but it might be a bit more expensive than run of the mill T8's. HTH John Report
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