LIGHTS

[crazyman229]

I know that a standard 15 watt fluorescent light is 15 watt but when you deal with compact fluorescent when a 42 watt is equivalent to 150 watt. What do you say when you have that on a 30 gallon tank with a 42 watt light on the tankis it 42 watt or is it 150 watt on the tank. I am confused. The thread say you need 2 - 3 watts of light per gallon. So a 42watt is 1.4 w/g and if you look at it with 150 so that would make it 5 w/g
please help. Thax

 

[FSM]

A 42 watt bulb is 42 watts

The incandescent equivalence rating is to help people figure out what CFL bulb to replace their incandescent bulbs with.

Incandescent bulbs suck, you can ignore the 150 watt number.



What type of fixture do you have? A single CFL bulb isn't going to evenly light the whole thing. Two or 3 smaller bulbs would work better.

The watt per gallon rule kind of sucks, because lighting varies significantly in efficiency. It also doesn't account for tank dimensions.

 

[crazyman229]

i have a 72x24x18 but it is seperated by 3 dividers on the top and i have my plants on the left side of the tank where the light is over the plants i also have a 15wattt 18" fluorescent over the plants too. The other parts i have 2 15watt 18"fluorescent in the middle and one 15 watt 18" fluorescent over the right side.

 

[mgamer20o0]

those also have a lot of restrike so they are not very efficient. what are you trying to grow and what are the dimensions of the area you are trying to plant?

 

[fishandturtlejunkie]

those also have a lot of restrike so they are not very efficient. what are you trying to grow and what are the dimensions of the area you are trying to plant?

^^^X2 what plants are you growing? Anubias, some ferns and mosses might be okay, but medium or high light requiring plants are a no-go.

 

[crazyman229]

The area i am trying to light is 22 L x 16.5 w and 20.5 D
I am not sure what the plant is but here is a pic it is the grass like one

 

[JakeH]

i have a 72x24x18 but it is seperated by 3 dividers on the top and i have my plants on the left side of the tank where the light is over the plants i also have a 15wattt 18" fluorescent over the plants too. The other parts i have 2 15watt 18"fluorescent in the middle and one 15 watt 18" fluorescent over the right side.

I think a 42w CFL could easily light one of those sections, but it sounds like you have plenty of wattage already.... Are you just trying to add more light to one section or replace all your current tubes with CFL's?

 

[crazyman229]

well i dont know what i reed is that more light is better as it is now i have 1.6 w/g and most say you need 2-3 w/g. The other plant i am looking to buy is http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/e_ludwigia.php
Red Ludwigia. It say bright light so i want to make sure i have enough light.

 

[JakeH]

If you're just adding a CFL to that one area, it cant really hurt.

 

[mgamer20o0]

those are vals. more light isnt always better. what i would do is try a 2 maybe 3 of the 27w cfl bulbs. this will help a little more even out the light. you prob just going to have to try it and see what works. ludwigia repens is a low-medium light plant.