Llighting

[atmmachine816]

i cant find any flourescent bulbs the right size for my tank that are over 20w i dont know much bout lighting but thats not very much lighting is it does anyboyd know how i oculd increase the lighting without adding more than one light can i use saltwater bulbs or regular bulbs and how do u find out how much wpg u hav 30/20 or 20/30 and wats the difference between incidascent and flourescent is it the wattage

sry a lot of ?s but thnks

 

[IovaykInD]

What size is your tank? Read the pinned article by gf225 about lighting. It really helps if you want to go with a planted tank.

 

[atmmachine816]

ok tank size is 30 gallon

 

[Discomafia]

What is the length of your tank? 36" or 24"? Bulbs come in set amounts of light, meaning that a 24" bulb will only be 20W, or a 36" bulb will only be 30W, and a 48" bulb will only be 40", although there are exceptions. So yea, it's hard to increase lighting unless you get another bulb in there, or use power compacts. In both cases, I'm sure you'll find the solution not toyour liking as you'll have to add a bulb or two.

Anyway, lighting depends on what kind of plants you want to grow. If you're going high light, you're going to need CO2 and a fertilizing regime. Are you prepared for that?

And just read it, watts per gallon... So, watts divided by gallons.

Also, why would you want to use SW bulbs for a FW tank? It produces more light at the blue spectrum, which plants don't really use, so algae will gain the upper hand...

Incandescent bulbs are the type you screw in, and is commonly used in houses. It produces a lot of heat though, and for most of them, the kelvin rating is lower than 6000K, which is the best for plants.

Please read all the pinned topics on here if you're serious about going planted, and then you'll find it a lot easier to grasp the basic concepts and you'll have a better understanding of what you want to acheive, and what you need to acheive it.

And no matter how old you are, in my eyes, there is no excuse for lack of proper punctuation, grammar and spelling.

Cheers,

 

[danski]

love your avatar disco^^^^^^^^^^^^
p.s i will have to watch my internet grammer..sorry still learning myself

 

[atmmachine816]

im sorry about my grammar i will stop it i read one of the stickys but dont have time to read anymore right now i have to do homework but tank is 30" and right now i dont think i hav money to be doing CO2 injections so i was just trying to figure out if you can increase the wattage to 30 wpg but when you do liquid fertilzer you inject it by the roots right and is a 15watt flourescent bulb the same as an incidascent bulb thats what i had meant to ask before

 

[Discomafia]

love your avatar disco^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thanks, I stole it from a member at a digital radio forum I frequent...

when you do liquid fertilzer you inject it by the roots right and is a 15watt flourescent bulb the same as an incidascent bulb thats what i had meant to ask before

No, you're thinking about root tabs, and it's usually for plants that have big root systems or those that are able to uptake (is that the correct word?) nutrients from the substrate. Cryptocorynes, Echinodorus sp., etc. etc... You add liquid ferts to your water during a w/c.

The reason I asked you to read the pinned threads on top is so that you can get an understanding of what kelvins is (if you don't already...)

A 15W flourescent bulb should produce the same amount and intensity of light as an incandescent bulb(don't quote me on this). However, they have a different kelvin rating, and usually it's at the lower range (4100K and below in my experience) and has more light in the red/yellow wavelength, so it's not very suitable for plants.

SW bulbs have more in the blue wavelength, again, not good for plants. They'll grow, sure, but you might have algae problems. Plants can use the red/yellow light that the incandescents put out, but not so much the blue light that SW bulbs (which are usually 10000K and above I think) produce.

Intensity is more important than kelvins, so as long as you have enough light for your plants, you should be fine.

Cheers,