lighting?

[mike5531]

people talk about k on there lights what is the best u need for a planted tank, i have a 30g tank wiv two 20w tubes in one is a power glo and the other is a aqua glo and they are both 18000k is that too much? and can u get higher watt 24" tubes than 20W?

 

[The-Wolf]

the rule of thumb is 2watts per gallon

 

[Yeaulman]

Hes not talking about wattage per gallon, hes talking about the color spectrum

 

[sinistral]

Most people recommend a color spectrum of between 5000K and 6500K, as this most closely resembles daylight.

Having said that, I am starting to believe that this rule is very similar to the "one inch of slim-bodied fish per gallon rule" for fish stocking. Both rules are good when you're starting out, but the further away you get from that, the more deviations you get. I've seen examples of tanks online that are grown principally with cool whites (I believe these are in the 2700K range).

I suspect that the 18000K's will be fine. Here's a link to a color spectrum chart for the aquaglows: link.

The main issue you might run into is actually insufficient light, as 40 watts on a 30 gallon tank isn't a whole lot. You'd be able to grow low light plants.

It looks like Philips puts out a 35 watt 24" tube. I'm no electrician though. I wouldn't recomend putting a bulb in a lamp that's not rated to supply that wattage. Somebody else might be better suited to replying to that part of your question. There are other solutions to ramp up the amount of light as well, which you might be interested in exploring. HTH.

 

[The-Wolf]

Hes not talking about wattage per gallon, hes talking about the color spectrum

ok then, my bad! )