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#1
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How much light is enough for plants in 55gal ?
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 |
#2
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How much light is enough for plants in 55gal ?
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 |
#3
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How much light is enough for plants in 55gal ?
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 |
#4
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How much light is enough for plants in 55gal ?
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 |
#5
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How much light is enough for plants in 55gal ?
"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 -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =----- http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! -----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =----- |
#6
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How much light is enough for plants in 55gal ?
"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 -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =----- http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! -----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =----- |
#7
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How much light is enough for plants in 55gal ?
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 |
#8
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How much light is enough for plants in 55gal ?
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 |
#9
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How much light is enough for plants in 55gal ?
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 |
#10
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How much light is enough for plants in 55gal ?
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 |
#11
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How much light is enough for plants in 55gal ?
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 |
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