Watts per Gallon ??

[Grey Legion]

I just got a 135 Gal 72x18x24 and I have to make a caonpy for it and was wondering how much light will I need, the tank will be heavily planted ( in areas ) and I want t omake sure I have the correct amout of light..so my question is this how do I figure how many watts needed per gallon ??

any links or help would be great ..

 

[George Farmer]

Wow, I'd love a tank that big!

Generally with high volume tanks the WPG rule runs a little lower due to the high amount of light. However if you tank is 24" high then you may need a little more light to penetrate.

Basically, it all depends on what plants you wish to grow and what other equipment you plan to use. Without CO2 injection then between 1 and 2 WPG should be fine. Over 2 WPG and you'll need CO2 to keep things balanced and help prevent algae.

Have you considered Metal Halides?

 

[Grey Legion]

I will have CO2

I wanted to stay with floresent due to the cost savings of running them...

so 1 - 2 watts per gallon should be ok ??

 

[kenneth_kpe]

if he would be planting in areas only gf is it a good idea to to maybe use strategically placed CF's ? u know ? light a lot where the plants are ? something like that ?

 

[guppygirl]

I would overlight, because of your depth.
The formula is total amount of watts divided by number of gallons.
HTH!