Light Reflectors

[fish.com1]

hi everyone,

i'm new to plants and after reading a lot of the pinned posts have much more knowledge, but am still unsureon a few things.

the wpg of my tank is 0.72 i think. Its 96 litres or 25 US gallons divided by 1 18 watt flourescent tube = 0.72. As i am wanting to grow riccia, i thought i might need to have some more lighting. I have a juwel tank and juwel sell reflectors, and they say that 'Optional juwel light reflectors more than double the light output of the system'. Does this mean it's like having two 18 watt tubes?If i bought these reflectors i worked out that my wpg would be 1.44 if it doubled the light output. would this be ok for growing riccia bearing in mind i don't have a c02 system?

the plants i would like to keep are-

riccia
amazon sword
vallisneria
java fern
java moss

would these plantsbe ok with the reflectors and no c02
any suggestions welcome

thanks

 

[SuperColey1]

In short....No. This is another marketing hype. Reflectors do not increase light output, they redirect light that would have been directed away from the tank, thereby increasing efficiency. What they should say is the system will have exactly the same output, but a reflector will redirect some of what would be lost.

I would suggest it is much more than double too. Think about the light. It is tubular so the only light pointing at the tank is from the bottom and slightly to the side of bottom. Probably 30% of the circumference. Then with a reflector it redirects the other 70%. In theory this would triple the efficiency BUT then some of the 70% will be blocked by the tube on its return (restrike.)

The WPG rule assumes you are using reflectors already so at the moment you don't have .72WPG. With reflectors you will have. You will need a lot more for Riccia and preferably with pressurised CO2. All the other plants will grow under your current lights after you get the reflectors.

AC

 

[aaronnorth]

if you are wanting to have better lighting, there is a T6 tube which outputs 40% more light, available from aqua essentials, it fits in any T8 ballast (providing lenght is ok!)

 

[Nick16]

i have ordered a t6 so if anyone wants some info, i will explain and help you on that front. also why dont you set up diy co2, as well as getting some liquid ferts. you willquickly see the difference, i did.

 

[fish.com1]

Thanks for repyling

so without the riccia(i can use java moss as a carpet instead) and no carbon dioxide the other plants i listed should be ok with 0.72 wpg(with reflectors) and no carbon dioxide?

the other plants were -

amazon sword
vallisneria
java fern
java moss

any other plants that would be ok in these conditions

thanks everyone

 

[aaronnorth]

they should be fine, anubias will also survive.

 

[Nick16]

hey aaronnorth whats yourtake on cold cathodes? worth a couple of quid? are they ok with a tiny bit of condensation?

 

[fish.com1]

thanks

any other plants?

 

[Nick16]

perhaps a low light crypt

 

[SuperColey1]

Cold Cathodes are sealed anyway so no probs with condensation. I assume you mean to use them as nightlights though. They have nowhere near enough output to use as normal lights.

AC