Everything I read says that that most planted tanks need 2-3 watts per gallon, I have a 220 that is 30 inches tall and have been trying to do some diy lighting to get enough to my plants but I don't think its enough. So I was going to break down and buy a t5 quad fixture but even that is only a total output of 320 watts putting me at 1.5 wpg even though that is the brightest light option I can find....so can anyone help me figure this out. Is that enough light or will i be wasting $130 for nothing.
The watts per gallon rule has me confused
- Thread starter KiiNGGiiNGER
- Start date
Watts per gallon is old school, it all depends on depth of the tank, color temp and PAR rating. Even if the light is diffused through a glass top that can effect things.
I'm growing thriving plants in a 40b with 2x 24" 18w t5's that's less than 1 watt per gallon.
what kind of plants do you keep? what's your fertilizer dosing schedule? Substrate? unless Your dosing CO2 you probably don't need ultra crazy lumens/watts.
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I'm growing thriving plants in a 40b with 2x 24" 18w t5's that's less than 1 watt per gallon.
what kind of plants do you keep? what's your fertilizer dosing schedule? Substrate? unless Your dosing CO2 you probably don't need ultra crazy lumens/watts.
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But if you are going to be running a high tech setup, there's always metal halide and T5VHO fixtures to look into. It's just going to depend on what kind of setup you want to run.
Alright thats a bit more encouraging, Im keeping medium level light plants nothing that requires high light. Deep 3-4 inch pool filter sand sub, using trace elements once every 2 weeks and I have a diy co2 system that puts out quite a bit of co2 on the end of the tank where they plants are. Thanks guys, Im going to stay with what I have at the moment and if things start to die off or refuses to grow Ill know I need the get the t5s. Everything I was reading was just worrying me.
Alot of the battle for me is finding the balance of lighting and ferts to keep the algae at bay.
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I have just a bit of brown algae on my ozelot swords leaves but the tank is only a month and a half old so thats to be expected and my green phantom does a great job of cleaning it off every 3-4 days.