Wpg

[jakeroberts]

how do u work out how many watts per gallon u have plz help me

 

[nry]

Divide the number of watts from your light by the number of US gallons of your tank.

Example:

Tank size: 15 UK gallons
Lights: 36watt

Sum: 36/15=2.4

 

[jakeroberts]

so if that is correct i have 1 watt per gallon is that badso if that is correct i have 1 watt per gallon is that bad

 

[lljdma06]

so if that is correct i have 1 watt per gallon is that badso if that is correct i have 1 watt per gallon is that bad

It depends, WPG is usually done with US gallons, not UK, but I don't really think the difference is going to be huge. I wouldn't plant the tank with toninas, myriophylum, or expect dense carpets of glosso , but you can grow some things with 1WPG or slightly less if I'm right in assuming UK gallons are larger than US gallons. Java fern, mosses, anubias, egeria densa (likes cooler water), cryptocorynes, and some species of hygrophila, bacopa, and other stemplants may do well. Growth won't be exceptionally rampant, but maybe that's not a bad thing in your situation. It's certainly enough species to create an interesting environment for the fish. If I had 1WPg, I'd still plant up the tank, if I had the right lighting with good reflectors, good color temperature, etc. What kind of lighting do you have? What's your substrate? There are still a few unanswered questions, but I'm just giving you a basic idea. All this is based on what I've observed, others may have a different opinion.

llj

 

[nry]

1wpg can work fine, I had many plants doing well in my tank at 1wpg, surprisingly well to be honest.

Choose the right plants (and even try those which should 'not' grow according to some!) and you will do fine.

 

[jakeroberts]

well my substrate is gravel my light is a compact flouresent tube with reflector as it is all i can afford these are the plants i have at the moment
java fern
wisteria
anubias on driftwood
green combomba
2 unidentified plants all of my plants seem to be goin good

 

[Musho3210]

funny thing is, i find the wpg rule one of the worst rules and i find it a total waste of time. Get plants, if they die, try again, if they die again, stop until you get more lights. Wpg is worse than the IPG rule IMO.

i have about 1.65 wpg in my 75 gallon and my plants are doing fine and they are not all low light plants. One of them has nice red leaves and has little things out of the water that look like flowers all over the tank and it started to block the light since there were so many. (forget the name but i bought it in a dry bulb)

 

[Dave Spencer]

i have about 1.65 wpg in my 75 gallon and my plants are doing fine and they are not all low light plants.

WPG is not a linear function. Smaller tanks need proportionally more light than than larger ones. I have a 6 USG that has 4WPG and less growth than a 32 USG with 1.7WPG. 1.65WPG for a 75 USG might be considered a high light tank.

WPG is a fairly outdated method though.

Dave.

 

[garuf]

i have about 1.65 wpg in my 75 gallon and my plants are doing fine and they are not all low light plants.

WPG is not a linear function. Smaller tanks need proportionally more light than than larger ones. I have a 6 USG that has 4WPG and less growth than a 32 USG with 1.7WPG. 1.65WPG for a 75 USG might be considered a high light tank.WPG is a fairly outdated method though.Dave.

if this is so then just how do we work out what light band our tanks actualy are, my tank is a ten gallon with 36watts and i can grow riccia e tennelus and hc all of which i have heard referred to as high light?i guess what im saying is just what system should we be using to work out our lighting levels?

i have about 1.65 wpg in my 75 gallon and my plants are doing fine and they are not all low light plants.

WPG is not a linear function. Smaller tanks need proportionally more light than than larger ones. I have a 6 USG that has 4WPG and less growth than a 32 USG with 1.7WPG. 1.65WPG for a 75 USG might be considered a high light tank.WPG is a fairly outdated method though.Dave.

if this is so then just how do we work out what light band our tanks actualy are, my tank is a ten gallon with 36watts and i can grow riccia e tennelus and hc all of which i have heard referred to as high light?i guess what im saying is just what system should we be using to work out our lighting levels?

 

[Musho3210]

im saying you have to try different things until you find out. If you want, you can use the WPG rule but i found it easier to get plants that look nice and seem to not need high light and CO2 etc (red leaves and stuff), if they die, you could try again or just not get that plant anymore.

THere is a way, get a Lux meter and/or a PAR meter, but i find those not needed unless your are trying to do scientific stuff.

 

[SuperColey1]

As per what Dave said. The WPG rule is only really a guide for starting from really. If you have Riccia and it is growing well then you have enough light to grow high light plants.

If it doesn't it could equally be be down to ferts/CO2 rather than light.

It's more a case of as you gain experience you don't need a calculator for dosing, lights or CO2. You will just up and down each thing until you can see that it is right just by looking at the plants and fish (and drop checker. lol)

You have 3.6WPG which on a 10G is medium to high and you should be able to grow most plants in that.

Andy

 

[Musho3210]

Also, 60 watts of incandescent lights produce the same amount of light as a 11-14 watt compact fluorescent. Also watts measure how much electricity is used, just because you use a lot of electricity doesnt mean your gonna get a lot of light (although that is normally the case)

try 140 watts of compact fluorescent lights in a 55 gallon tank. Then try 140 watts of metal halide (2 70watts) in the same tank. Which one does better? The halide will kick the compact fluorescent light out of the industry.

 

[afishdude]

the combomba needs 2.5+ wpg, i have tryed it with 1.5wpg and plant ferts and it didnt grow good and turned brown.

 

[nry]

Pah, albeit there are different species, I have had cabomba doing very very well with 1wpg albeit with limited use of CO2. It grew slowly but it grew nicely. Same for rotala macranda - a supposed high light plant which did pretty well under 1wpg for me.

 

[SuperColey1]

Pah, albeit there are different species, I have had cabomba doing very very well with 1wpg albeit with limited use of CO2. It grew slowly but it grew nicely. Same for rotala macranda - a supposed high light plant which did pretty well under 1wpg for me.

Agreed before I upgraded my lighting I had 1WPG (should've been 1.25 but Fluval tanks have ballasts that are less wattage than their tubes)

I had Cabomba as one of my first plants with 1 Nutrafin cannister for CO2 and it grew like a damn weed before I binned it.

No problems light wise with most of the common starter plants, although Rotala Macrandra is often sold with starter setups, which isa high light plant.

Andy