This confuses me!

[aquaculture]

I want to be able to grow Red Ludwigia, tiger lotus, jungle val, and orchid lily.

my tank is 120, length 60 inches, 18 inches wide and 28 inches tall, i tried to use the sticky about not using watts pergallon but was confused.

so what would be the best light setup for these plants.

thanks

 

[aquaculture]

I already have a light fixture that will hold 48in compact flourecents.

 

[aquaculture]

updated list of plants i wish to grow in this tank: Red Ludwigia, tiger lotus, jungle val, orchid lily, African water fern. thanks for the help.


How many lumens do i need ?

 

[aquaculture]

Would two of these be good,

Or is there a cheaper equivelant.

 

[sostoudt]

get around 200 watt fixture, if you go with power compact i would get a little more wattage, i guess 260 watts is the wattage for that area

 

[aquaculture]

all i need is one or two of these so iam good

Coralife Trichromatic 40W T-12 Fluorescent Lamp - 48"

 

[sostoudt]

all i need is one or two of these so iam good

Coralife Trichromatic 40W T-12 Fluorescent Lamp - 48"

no read my post its post number 5

 

[aquaculture]

watts only refer to the amount of power a bulb uses with most bulbs for aquariums, did some scientific reading, the temperature in kelvien and the spectrum of light the bulb emitts is what a plant cares about.

 

[sostoudt]

watts only refer to the amount of power a bulb uses with most bulbs for aquariums, did some scientific reading, the temperature in kelvien and the spectrum of light the bulb emitts is what a plant cares about.

yes thats true, but very few times when i buy a light online does it tell the lumens or the par. people try to get away from watts but its the only thing consistently provided by retailers.
you dont need to worry about the spectrum as that changes with bulbs.
all you really have to know is the efficency of the bulb type.

most recommendations are based on regular flourscents. so if you have t5, its more efficent so you use less watts then the in the rule. if you had vho its less effecient so you use more.

while i dont know the lumen out put for 2 40w bulbs, i can tell you it falls far short of your goal.
if you dont understand the more complex rules, i would just go with the standard wpg rule. then if you still in doubt go higher. as long as your not rediculously high it should still work.

 

[aquaculture]

Somehow i lost my refereance of science, but from what i remeber reading it held more importance on the color temperature and light spectrum than watts, and brightness was only important after a bulb is found with the proper color temperature and light spectrum.