How much light is enough for plants in 55gal ?

[Shawn P. Good]

> This doesn't mean CO2 can make up for insufficient lighting. The
> light needs to be at least enough for the plants to grow.
>
> Chuck Gadd
> http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

So - what IS sufficient light for plants to grow ? I'm having a hard time
establishing plants in my tank. Even hornwort is dying - all the little
needles are littering the bottom of my tank. I've ordered a CO2 system -
it's on its way. But I know I need to change my light, I just don't know
how.

I have a 55gal tank - it's 48" long, 20" high and 12" deep. I have a
stanard one-bulb hood on it - the kind where there are 2 lids you can lift
at the front to feed the fish. Right now I have one 40-watt bulb. Is there
some formula for figuring out wattage ? Can I buy a 75-watt or a 100-watt
bulb for this one-bulb hood ? Do I need a new hood ?

Thanks for any and all advice.

shawn

[Aqua]

> I have a 55gal tank - it's 48" long, 20" high and 12" deep. I have a
> stanard one-bulb hood on it - the kind where there are 2 lids you can lift
> at the front to feed the fish. Right now I have one 40-watt bulb. Is there
> some formula for figuring out wattage ? Can I buy a 75-watt or a 100-watt
> bulb for this one-bulb hood ? Do I need a new hood ?

I dont know about your current hood but you need minimum two more
40watt bulbs. This will give you little more than 2 watts per gal. Or
go for 2x55w bulbs.

Regards
Dominic

[Aqua]

> I have a 55gal tank - it's 48" long, 20" high and 12" deep. I have a
> stanard one-bulb hood on it - the kind where there are 2 lids you can lift
> at the front to feed the fish. Right now I have one 40-watt bulb. Is there
> some formula for figuring out wattage ? Can I buy a 75-watt or a 100-watt
> bulb for this one-bulb hood ? Do I need a new hood ?

I dont know about your current hood but you need minimum two more
40watt bulbs. This will give you little more than 2 watts per gal. Or
go for 2x55w bulbs.

Regards
Dominic

[Chuck Gadd]

On 10 Feb 2004 19:43:47 -0800, (Aqua) wrote:

>I dont know about your current hood but you need minimum two more
>40watt bulbs. This will give you little more than 2 watts per gal. Or
>go for 2x55w bulbs.
>

I've seen a 55g tank using just 2 40w tubes. It's on the low end of
the lighting scale, but it's enough for many of the less demanding
plants.



Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

[Harry Muscle]

"Aqua" > wrote in message
m...
> > I have a 55gal tank - it's 48" long, 20" high and 12" deep. I have a
> > stanard one-bulb hood on it - the kind where there are 2 lids you can
lift
> > at the front to feed the fish. Right now I have one 40-watt bulb. Is
there
> > some formula for figuring out wattage ? Can I buy a 75-watt or a
100-watt
> > bulb for this one-bulb hood ? Do I need a new hood ?
>
> I dont know about your current hood but you need minimum two more
> 40watt bulbs. This will give you little more than 2 watts per gal. Or
> go for 2x55w bulbs.
>
> Regards
> Dominic

You can probably get away with adding just one more bulb, that would give
him almost 1.5 wpg, which would be ok for medium light plants. Adding one
more bulb should be doable without having to get a new hood, adding two
would probably require a bigger hood. You can always switch to compact
fluorescent though.

Harry




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[Harry Muscle]

"Aqua" > wrote in message
m...
> > I have a 55gal tank - it's 48" long, 20" high and 12" deep. I have a
> > stanard one-bulb hood on it - the kind where there are 2 lids you can
lift
> > at the front to feed the fish. Right now I have one 40-watt bulb. Is
there
> > some formula for figuring out wattage ? Can I buy a 75-watt or a
100-watt
> > bulb for this one-bulb hood ? Do I need a new hood ?
>
> I dont know about your current hood but you need minimum two more
> 40watt bulbs. This will give you little more than 2 watts per gal. Or
> go for 2x55w bulbs.
>
> Regards
> Dominic

You can probably get away with adding just one more bulb, that would give
him almost 1.5 wpg, which would be ok for medium light plants. Adding one
more bulb should be doable without having to get a new hood, adding two
would probably require a bigger hood. You can always switch to compact
fluorescent though.

Harry




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[Giancarlo Podio]

I don't think you will have a lot of luck with just one tube. However
hornwart, being a floating plant and therefore closest to the light,
is probably suffering from something else rather than insufficient
lighting.

2x40W T12 tubes or 2x32W T8 tubes work well for low light setups, I
think this would be the minimum you want to consider. If you have CO2
on it's way you may want to consider a little more light. The
all-glass tripple T8 fixture worked very well in my 55g tank, as did
2x55W compact flourescent retrofit from www.ahsupply.com

If you can reach around 2 watts per gallon you should be able to grow
just about anything.

Hope that helps
Giancarlo Podio

[Giancarlo Podio]

I don't think you will have a lot of luck with just one tube. However
hornwart, being a floating plant and therefore closest to the light,
is probably suffering from something else rather than insufficient
lighting.

2x40W T12 tubes or 2x32W T8 tubes work well for low light setups, I
think this would be the minimum you want to consider. If you have CO2
on it's way you may want to consider a little more light. The
all-glass tripple T8 fixture worked very well in my 55g tank, as did
2x55W compact flourescent retrofit from www.ahsupply.com

If you can reach around 2 watts per gallon you should be able to grow
just about anything.

Hope that helps
Giancarlo Podio

[Giancarlo Podio]

I don't think you will have a lot of luck with just one tube. However
hornwart, being a floating plant and therefore closest to the light,
is probably suffering from something else rather than insufficient
lighting.

2x40W T12 tubes or 2x32W T8 tubes work well for low light setups, I
think this would be the minimum you want to consider. If you have CO2
on it's way you may want to consider a little more light. The
all-glass tripple T8 fixture worked very well in my 55g tank, as did
2x55W compact flourescent retrofit from www.ahsupply.com

If you can reach around 2 watts per gallon you should be able to grow
just about anything.

Hope that helps
Giancarlo Podio

[Art Giacosa]

Don't go overboard ording equipment such as CO2 until you have your
lights in order. Although not a great rule, I would suggest you aim
for 2-3 watts per gallon to start. Plants need enough light to
photosynthesize. Each plant has a minimum amount of light they need
in order to photosynthesize enough to provide it with its minimum
requirements. As you have many different species in your aquarium,
you must focus on satisfying your most demanding plant as the others
will, by default, receive enough light.

Regards,

Art Giacosa
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com

[Art Giacosa]

Don't go overboard ording equipment such as CO2 until you have your
lights in order. Although not a great rule, I would suggest you aim
for 2-3 watts per gallon to start. Plants need enough light to
photosynthesize. Each plant has a minimum amount of light they need
in order to photosynthesize enough to provide it with its minimum
requirements. As you have many different species in your aquarium,
you must focus on satisfying your most demanding plant as the others
will, by default, receive enough light.

Regards,

Art Giacosa
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com