Enough light for this tank?
Greetings wise ones,
I am planning on buying a Jebo aquarium, which includes filtration and lighting all in one unit in the tank cover. It is 4' x 18" x 22", and comes with 3x30 watt 4' tubes. I hope to have a heavily planted tank. Is this enough lighting? I have read that a tank needs about 5 watts per gallon for successful plants. So my question is: can I simply change the 30 watt tubes for higher wattage, or is there some reason why the light fixture itself will only take 30 watt tubes? |
Enough light for this tank?
T12 Flourescent tube wattage is roughly 5/6 of it's length: 24" = 20 Watts,
36" = 30w, etc. Dan "rapdor" wrote in message ... Greetings wise ones, I am planning on buying a Jebo aquarium, which includes filtration and lighting all in one unit in the tank cover. It is 4' x 18" x 22", and comes with 3x30 watt 4' tubes. I hope to have a heavily planted tank. Is this enough lighting? I have read that a tank needs about 5 watts per gallon for successful plants. So my question is: can I simply change the 30 watt tubes for higher wattage, or is there some reason why the light fixture itself will only take 30 watt tubes? |
Enough light for this tank?
rapdor wrote:
I hope to have a heavily planted tank. Is this enough lighting? I have read that a tank needs about 5 watts per gallon for successful plants. So Toss out whatever book or magazine gave you that figure, it's just plain wrong. -- Victor M. Martinez http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv |
Enough light for this tank?
"rapdor" wrote in message ... Greetings wise ones, I am planning on buying a Jebo aquarium, which includes filtration and lighting all in one unit in the tank cover. It is 4' x 18" x 22", and comes with 3x30 watt 4' tubes. I hope to have a heavily planted tank. Is this enough lighting? I have read that a tank needs about 5 watts per gallon for successful plants. So my question is: can I simply change the 30 watt tubes for higher wattage, or is there some reason why the light fixture itself will only take 30 watt tubes? It may be enough for low and some types of medium light plants. It is certainly enough to grow algae if you do not plant the tank heavily with fast growing plants.. I am not familiar with a 30 watt 4' bulb. I see 32 and 40 watts a lot...here in the US.. Is that a 80 gallon tank? Its unfortunate you will have no options for the enhancement of the lighting, should you want to later. Would it be possible to not use the hood and use a glass top, thinking about later.... |
Enough light for this tank?
"rapdor" wrote:
I have read that a tank needs about 5 watts per gallon for successful plants. It depends on a number of things. The deeper a tank is, the brighter light you will need to adequately reach the bottom. Some plants require very little light, some need a great deal. In general, 3 or 4 watts per gallon is a good range to shoot for unless you have an unusually deep tank or are growing very light demanding plants. I've got 56 watts on my 20 gallon tank, just under 3 watts per gallon, and my plants grow like crazy. -- www.ericschreiber.com |
Enough light for this tank?
"rapdor" wrote:
I have read that a tank needs about 5 watts per gallon for successful plants. It depends on a number of things. The deeper a tank is, the brighter light you will need to adequately reach the bottom. Some plants require very little light, some need a great deal. In general, 3 or 4 watts per gallon is a good range to shoot for unless you have an unusually deep tank or are growing very light demanding plants. I've got 56 watts on my 20 gallon tank, just under 3 watts per gallon, and my plants grow like crazy. -- www.ericschreiber.com |
Enough light for this tank?
It may be enough for low and some types of medium light plants. It is certainly enough to grow algae if you do not plant the tank heavily with fast growing plants.. I am not familiar with a 30 watt 4' bulb. I see 32 and 40 watts a lot...here in the US.. Is that a 80 gallon tank? Its unfortunate you will have no options for the enhancement of the lighting, should you want to later. Would it be possible to not use the hood and use a glass top, thinking about later.... OK, went back to the shop and asked the salesman--4' tanks come with 3 x 4' x 40 watt tubes, but the wattage can be increased safely if that is what I want to pay for. He reckons in Australia the 3 x 40 will be fine, since we have lots of natural light (sunny days) and the tank is to be in a well-lit room (but not in direct sinlught). So all is well. Thanks folks. |
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