Time To A Lighting Upgrade

[aaronc]

Hi All

I need to upload my standard juwel lighting setup. At the moment I have the standard Rio 125 lighting which is 36w over about 30 US gallons, when considering displacement etc - which gives me 1.2wpg.

This will need seriously improving to have any luck with plants

I have seen what Jimbo has done with this Rio180 and I am thinking of something similar. Ie adding a dual 18w unit, doubling my lighting to 72w and a WPG of 2.4.

Will this be enough??

Or will I need to go down the T5 route, however this is more expensive and may bring up heat issues when considering that it will be in the enclosed Juwel tank

Any advice would be appreciated. No idea what to do

Thanks
Aaron

 

[SuperColey1]

Aaron

As far as I know displacement doesn't really come into play with the WPG rule. after all if you have several 'pillar' rocks that took a few gallons of space and is say 2inches wide and long but 2 foot tall, you still need the same light to be able to light the rest of the tank.

It is the actual volumetric measurement i.e. the tank is 180 when full (maximum) but you fill to 1 inch lower than the rim = 180L - 15L = 165L therefore 'x' gallons

Lightwise the T5 PC Compacts are very tidy and just about as cheap as their T8 counterparts for much more power. Depends really how much light you are after.

Andy

 

[aaronc]

Oh right, I have been going off the Juwel figures. My water level is about 2 inches below the top of the tank.

So in actual fact adding 2 more T8 tubes would put me slightly over 2.4wpg.

I want a lighting solution that will allow me to most plants, I like riccia and really want a glosso lawn.

I looked at an arcadia dual T5 kit which would give me 84 watts and a WPG of closer to 2.8wpg. But I am very concerned about putting that muct t5 power in the plastic hood, and I do not want to go adding fans etc to the hood.

THanks
Aaron

 

[zig]

2.4WPG T8 should be enough, think George had about that amount on his Rio 125 with good results, you could check out his journal, he just balanced the extra lighting on the brace as far as I know, you would definitely need CO2 though and a proper fert routine with that amount of light.

 

[aaronc]

Cool

I have ferts coming in the post, just need to order trace.

Also have one Nutrafin kit hooked up and will be adding an extra fermenation bottle once the lighting is in

Thanks for the advice guys

Aaron