How much lighting do I need?

[norbie]

I've saved up enough money to finally get some lighting for my tank

I'm going to get a few shops to give me a quote, but what exactly is it I need?

I think I need the correct size hood (My tank is 30L x 12W x 15D)
Does the hood have all the connectors in for a light?
A lightbulb - is it correct that I need 50-60 Watts to get a WPG of 3 (please correct me if I am wrong!)

 

[pseud]

I make your tank to be about 20 gallons, so you'd need a 55 or 65w bulb to get around 3 wpg.

Just be sure that when you get your bulb that it's between 5500K and 6500K

 

[norbie]

Thanks,

what are the 5500K and 6500K bits about?

 

[zig]

Hiya norbie

Have a look at gf225s pinned guide to lighting at the top of this section of the forum it will explain things in detail for you.

Your tank is 23 US gallons, so something in the region of 60 watts of lighting would be pretty good and allow you to grow almost anything, at this amount of wattage you would also need co2, but its all explained in the guide.

 

[norbie]

Thanks for the reply...

WOW. I only wanted to put some lights in my tank, it's ridiculously more complicated that i thought!

 

[zig]

Thanks for the reply...

WOW. I only wanted to put some lights in my tank, it's ridiculously more complicated that i thought!

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Well dont let me put you off or anything, its just most of us around this section run highlight tanks that need co2, but its possible to have a very nice planted tank with no co2 and less wattage, if you keep the wattage under 2 WPG you wont need co2, so something around 40 watts would be perfect and still allow you to grow a lot of different verities of plants, just avoid plants that require a lot of light as these would not do well in a lower light setup, it doesnt have to be that complicated, but if you run a lot of light (say 3 WPG) and dont use co2, you will be growing algae in no time, but dont let me put you off having plants in your tank, its just an awful lot of people fail at plantkeeping in aquariums and a little knowledge can go a long way.

 

[norbie]

That's ok, you're not putting me off!

I already have plants in my tank and always have, but having a bit of light in there should extend their life a bit longer (hopefully).

Plus I get to see my fish more