The challenge to having four watts per gallon is, first and initially,
getting your system stable and a desirable equilibrium established before
algae gets a foothold and, secondly, the several hours of weekly maintenance
you should expect to have to do to keep your plantings tamed. High light
levels are fun, but demanding - I'd firmly recommend getting some experience
and confidence at lower lighting levels before you attempt it.

IMHO, about two watts per gallon is an excellent level to start at. With a
55w CF over an 18" high tank, you can still have high light plants directly
under the lamp and low to medium light tolerant plants around the edges. At
two watts, a single soda bottle of CO2 injected into the filter will
probably be enough.

Good luck!

kush

"You can't have everything - where would you put it?"

Dustin wrote in message
...
Would the overkill hurt anything?

If I only used one bulb at 55W - which is 1.98w per gallon, with DIY co2,
would that be a better solution?

Thanks For All your Help

"LeighMo" wrote in message
...


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=20835608 49

I have a 29 gal, I want to plant it. Ive read alot of "The Krib" but
am
still warry about building my own. Would this hood do the job, and if
so
is
it a fair price?

That might be overkill, if this is your first tank. It's 110 watts,
which
would be nearly 4 watts per gallon for a 29 gallon tank.

If you don't want to inject CO2, you should aim for closer to 2 wpg. If
you
are willing to inject CO2, 3 wpg is a good level.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/