bought a plant lamp

[madhav96001]

just yesterday i came across a 2-1/2 ft T5 (2x20w) light with eballast(its really very light in weight)
can i use it for my planted 30 G tank ? or i need to use 2 of such hoods for my tank to get around 3wpg ?
is T5 is brighter or T8 ?

thx
Madhav

 

[WyldFya]

WPG does not apply to all lights. It is intended for T12s, and work alright for CF lights. Most other lights do not put out the same amount of lumens per watt (lux) and as such are not along the same rules.

The light you are looking at is probably NO T5, which is not that strong of a light, but better than T8s. HO T5s are far brighter than most of the competition.

Check out the stickies, there is a great article about WPG, and why it isn't a good system.