Replaced A Burnt Out Light Bulb. Did I Get The Wrong Wattage?

[marleth]

10G Tank uses incandesent lighting. It came in a starter kit with 2 15W bulbs. 1 bulb burned out, and I replaced both with 25W bulbs. This yields 5W per gallon. I checked out some lighting topics and most are recommending 2-3W per gallon. I do plan on adding plants to the tank, but in the meantime I don't want to cause an algae issue.

Should I go find lower Wattage bulbs?

I'm liking the aquarium hobby, but wow, there's so much to learn.

 

[rabbut]

Running tubes that are higher-wattage than the balsasts can wrek the balasts, so check that they can handle the power of the new tubes. If so, there is no problem

Over a 10g, 5wpg of light will not be the same as 5wpg on a 50g. Arranoth will be along sooner or later at some point to give you a like explaining why this is the case, but I cannot explain the phenomonon that well.... 5wpg on your tank would likely be roughly equivilant to 2-3wpg on an "adverage" sized tank arround 30g. The light is less effective on a smaller tank

For the time being, see how things go if the balasts are powerful enough. If you get algea you will have to down-grade the tubes or cut the light on time

HTH
Rabbut

 

[Mikaila31]

They are incandescent lights though. So basically your basic light bulb, not florescents. I would replace them with the normal 15 wat lights the hood is suppose to run. I've made the mistake before of putting larger bulbs in sockets. I put a 100w bulb in a socket only rated for 75w, a few months later I turn is on and the light bulb explodes. I had to use a pair of plies to get the base or the bulb out of the socket.

Also incandescent lights don't really work to grow plants. All the things you have been reading are taking about florescent lights. If you want to grow plants you need to buy some of those spiral compact fluorescent that screw into a standard socket.

 

[Pleccy]

It doesn't really matter what type of bulbs they are, overloading the starter can be dangerous and it will badly damage it.

 

[marleth]

The hood can handle up to 50W. I originally bought some 40W bulbs then realized this and got some 25W bulbs soon afterwards. So running 50W total shouldn't over tax the electricals.

Also in the posts regarding lighting, does the watt per gallon refer to the wattage of the flourescent or the equivalent wattage of an incandescant?

 

[Mikaila31]

Also in the posts regarding lighting, does the watt per gallon refer to the wattage of the flourescent or the equivalent wattage of an incandescant?

WPG rule goes by the actual wattage of the fluorescent, not the equivalent wattage. Which is why incandescents don't really work for plants. Florescents put out a lot more light per watt than an incandescent. The WPG rule is ment to be used with flourescents.

 

[three-fingers]

It doesn't really matter what type of bulbs they are, overloading the starter can be dangerous and it will badly damage it.

Yes it does matter, because incandescents don't have starters .

 

[waterdrop]

The WPG rule was based on not just fluorescents but T12 or T8 older style fluorscents, so it is actually not quite right even for the newer T5 fluorescents in all their various forms like compact fluorescents and the like. The "T" number just refers to the number of eighths of an inch in diameter of the tube (eg. a T8, begin 8/8 of an inch, is an inch in diameter if you measure it with a ruler.)

Many newer T5 tubes, whether straight, U-bent, or spiral compact, are actually more efficient and put out many more lumens for a watt of power going in. The rules have never really updated I don't believe, but it doesn't really matter as they were so crude anyway.

I don't mean to make assumptions and confuse, but the 2-3 WPG you are reading about is more in the range of the planted tank enthusiasts and will drive your entire planted system at a higher rate of growth and nutrient use, leading to higher risk that you will fail. If you are a beginner wanting to get used to caring for nice plants in your community tank, it might be a safer bet starting out at between 1.3 and 2 WPG.

Figuring out what power to buy if you get newer more efficient bulbs thus can be a tad trickier, as you would want T5's of lower wattage that what the old rule would tell you. You just have to extrapolate a little, it doesn't have to be too perfect. Even more important will be choosing a dosing strategy for macro and micro nutrients and figuring out how to get carbon to your plants, if you decide to get into it that much.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[data276]

switch to 15W compact flourescent they're about $20 each and they are great for plants like cabomba and java moss.

 

[OldMan47]

If you use 2 of the 13W screw-in fluorescents instead of the incandescents, it will calculate as over 2.5 WPG but treat it as 1 to 1.5 and you will have better luck with the plants. The WPG estimates really don't work on a small tank like a 10 but that doesn't mean you can't grow low light plants with the screw-ins. I have been doing that for a couple of years now and do very well growing java ferns, anubias and similar low light plants.