Does My Light Counts As Wpg?

[s007]

Hello everyone, i wanted to as how to calculate my light if i do really need to inject co2? i have 2x T5HO each 24W (1x Hagen - Life-Glo & 1x AQUA-GLO) which comes up to 48W and i have 260 liters tank which is about 68 US gallons so if i use WPG calculation i get: 68US Gal / 48W= 1.41 WPG is that right even tho its 2x T5HO as before i was told that its more then enough light and co2 def needed or ill get alge problems.

Thanks

 

[Bigpig]

I belive the old WPG is worked in T8 bulbs. The T5's have a lot more poke

 

[Truck]

Hello everyone, i wanted to as how to calculate my light if i do really need to inject co2? i have 2x T5HO each 24W (1x Hagen - Life-Glo & 1x AQUA-GLO) which comes up to 48W and i have 260 liters tank which is about 68 US gallons so if i use WPG calculation i get: 68US Gal / 48W= 1.41 WPG is that right even tho its 2x T5HO as before i was told that its more then enough light and co2 def needed or ill get alge problems.

Thanks

it was me that said this, i miss read your post and thought you meant 70 litres it should be fine, and you do total wattage divided by the number of gallons

so you would be at 0.7 and times that by 1.4 because theyre T5's so your at approx 0.98 wpg no need for CO2

 

[s007]

humm ok, as i have presurized co2 would you guys suggest to get more light? As first of all as i keep Discus i would really prefer to soften the watter for them and keep it that way. The second thing is yes my tank is about 68 US gall but do you cont on the full size of the tank or the ammount of water that you have as gravel weights about 50 killograms plus wood this and that and it minuses about 70 liters of water (sorry for stupid question i just dont know this things)

If i can get more light which one would you suggest? Nice and compact but not £££

 

[three-fingers]

WPG is meant to be based on old T12 tubes with reflectors and US gallons I believe, but it will vary a lot from different sources since lots of people don't take this into account. The tanks volume without accounting for gravel and such is what's used, but it really doesn't matter since it's a very rough way of calculating things.

While the statement of "I have 1.41 WPG of T5HO light" is very useful, bothering to adjust it to account for the type of light can just confuse things, so just stick with he quoted statement when asked about your lighting levels .

To the point: 1.41 WPG of your lights and CO2 is fantastic, especially if you have reflectors. If not, don't worry.

As long as all the other factors are in balance (nutrients, circulation...etc) you should have no issues and should be able to grow most plants, to be safe, stay away from high light plants regarded as difficult (like Rotala macaranda), and dont expect high-light carpeting plants to carpet amazingly. Though you might be OK with these plants if you want to try it out.

Although you should note that CO2 doesn't soften the water, it lowers the pH but if you have hard water your discus probably won't benefit from that anyway.

 

[s007]

WPG is meant to be based on old T12 tubes with reflectors and US gallons I believe, but it will vary a lot from different sources since lots of people don't take this into account. The tanks volume without accounting for gravel and such is what's used, but it really doesn't matter since it's a very rough way of calculating things.

While the statement of "I have 1.41 WPG of T5HO light" is very useful, bothering to adjust it to account for the type of light can just confuse things, so just stick with he quoted statement when asked about your lighting levels .

To the point: 1.41 WPG of your lights and CO2 is fantastic, especially if you have reflectors. If not, don't worry.

As long as all the other factors are in balance (nutrients, circulation...etc) you should have no issues and should be able to grow most plants, to be safe, stay away from high light plants regarded as difficult (like Rotala macaranda), and dont expect high-light carpeting plants to carpet amazingly. Though you might be OK with these plants if you want to try it out.

Although you should note that CO2 doesn't soften the water, it lowers the pH but if you have hard water your discus probably won't benefit from that anyway.

Cheers for that, so with co2 i shult try and stick with 30ppm as usual? By the way can u point me to the right place on how to get 30ppm and right buble counts per minute that i need?
Thanks

 

[three-fingers]

Yep.

And yep, but you'll need a drop checker .

Just counting bubbles isnt enough I'm afraid (different counters have different sized bubbles, and different tanks already have different levels of CO2, so would need to inject less), you have to get a KH and pH test kit and use a chart to work out CO2 levels. But I wouldn't recommend that method...it's very inaccurate.

Read this : [URL="http/www.ukaps.org/drop-checker.htm"]http/www.ukaps.org/drop-checker.htm[/URL].

 

[Schmill]

Hello everyone, i wanted to as how to calculate my light if i do really need to inject co2? i have 2x T5HO each 24W (1x Hagen - Life-Glo & 1x AQUA-GLO) which comes up to 48W and i have 260 liters tank which is about 68 US gallons so if i use WPG calculation i get: 68US Gal / 48W= 1.41 WPG is that right even tho its 2x T5HO as before i was told that its more then enough light and co2 def needed or ill get alge problems.

Thanks

Woooooh there everyone, step back, take a moment and re-read

As per Trucks post that seems to have been missed;

48W
68 US Gallons

CANNOT be 1.41WPG (Watts per gallon)

What you have worked out by doing 68/48 is Gallons per Watt.

You want Watts per Gallon, so divide the Watts by the Gallons; 48/68 = 0.7 WPG

Of course having T5's instead of whatever the 'rule' was based on might affect that figure, as will reflectors, but you need the correct figure to start from
I think T5's just pentrate deeper, I don't know if they actually give 'more light' per watt?

Just thought I'd point that out as it will make a difference to every other post before this one. Not sure if CO2 will have any effect for you in that lower lighting situation, but others may be able to advise better there



Ok, continue

 

[bobross]

I thought I read that it was doubled because the OP is using T5's. Doesn't the watt per gallon 'rule' get thrown out then?


BobRoss

 

[aaronnorth]

Schmill you are correct that it is 0.7wpg, and that there isnt more light per watt, however this figure is usually significantly higher because there is more watts per square inch compared to T12's which is what the WPG is originally based on.

And the WPG is based on a light including reflectors. If you dont have reflectors then it will be lower still.

 

[mfcphil]

Has no one made a calcultor for this yet?

Where you can select the type of bulb t-12 t-8 or t-5
and then select US gallons or other.

Can't believe that nobody has not woke up early and thought I know what I can make today.

I would love to know how to work out how much wpg my tank has...the t-5 is stronger does not really explain it

 

[three-fingers]

Haha, so it's 0.7 WPG then? . That'll teach me to think about what I'm reading .

In that case, you can still use CO2 with that much lighting, but you probably won't need that much unless your going for loads of fast growing species. Other nutrients are still just as important, as is circulation. But you can't grow as many plant species, just avoid most "high light" things.

 

[s007]

WOW thats not very good then why did FLUVAL did such a stupid low lightning not even 1 WPG Im very very upset will have to get Metal Halide light

 

[Truck]

WOW thats not very good then why did FLUVAL did such a stupid low lightning not even 1 WPG Im very very upset will have to get metal halogen light

manufacturers have only just realised what fish keepers want...DECENT lighting! juwel have clicked on as have aqua one and rena but rena no longer make aquariums

 

[three-fingers]

WOW thats not very good then why did FLUVAL did such a stupid low lightning not even 1 WPG Im very very upset will have to get Metal Halide light

Why bother?

Your lighting is perfectly adequate...

More to the point, if you thought it's not, cant you just DIY another tube or two onto it? Which tank is this?