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Pet Forum / Aquaria / Marine Reef / September 2003wattage for CF lights
Anyone know the suggested wattage per gallon for compact flourecent lights? I had MH and typically ran no less than 5 watts per gallon (though I had more like 8). CF lights are a lot brighter / watt. Right now I'm running about 2.5 watts per gallon and seems plenty bright enough. > Anyone know the suggested wattage per gallon for compact flourecent > lights? [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > CF lights are a lot brighter / watt. Right now I'm running about 2.5 > watts per gallon and seems plenty bright enough. I read 3 to 5 watts per gallon somewhere recently.  SignatureRemember, wherever you go, there you are. Marc once said he gets a "cringe" when he hears the words "fresh water dip" I guess that best describes what I fell when someone says that ridicules "watts per gallon" watts per gallon have nothing to do with proper lighting by no means. whom ever started it should be taken out and castrated.............. depth of tank and type of light determine the amount of wattage you will needed, not the gallon size of the tank. kc > Marc once said he gets a "cringe" when he hears the words "fresh water dip" > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > depth of tank and type of light determine the amount of wattage you will > needed, not the gallon size of the tank. You are right, but some people find this too difficult and they need much simpler rules of thumb like W/gallon. It usually works, since tanks have standardized sizes. And this is only an estimate, right? Do not get me wrong - I am not trying to defend this rule. I know its limits. First question would be watts of what? Normal output? HO? VHO? Compacts? BTW - I have 2x96W powercompacts over my 3' long 30g. Does it mean having almost 7W/gallon I can keep the most light demanding corals? :-))) I guess not... Yep, WPG is really misleading, because it implies you have the same watts FOR *EVERY* GALLON, but you don't. The intensity is dead center under the bulb, closest to the surface. If you are using MH lighting, when the surface ripples, the glimmer lines running across your corals get even more light at that precise moment (read that in Borneman's book). My 55g has 570w of light total: 2 x 175w 10,000K bulbs; plus 2 x 110w URI actinic VHO. My 29g has 165w of light total: 3 x 55w 50/50 PCs. The biggest factor to keep in mind is how deeply does the light need to penetrate to provide the correct spectrum for the specific entities in the tank. I'm able to keep SPS under my PCs because they are near the top of the tank. Marc > Marc once said he gets a "cringe" when he hears the words "fresh water dip" > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > kc -- Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com > watts per gallon have nothing to do with proper lighting by no means. whom > ever started it should be taken out and castrated.............. now tell us what you really think :) -- Richard Reynolds Richard.Reynolds@usa.net well Richard, i get really annoyed when i see someone with many years of experience tell a newbie "yea, if you got x # of wpg, you can keep an anemone. they dont care what type of lighting it is as long as you got this many watts/gallon your good to go. over on RC i see it so many times "can i keep this if i have "X" watts per gallon?" and you alwasys see the "yes, sure you can as long as you have the minimum of this you can" so.................... i got the minimum wpg you said..........so why are all my corals dieing???????????? its a 1000w MH over my 7 gallon nano reef i have it 8" above the water and my 3hp chiller keeps the temp at a constant 78 deg, i just dont understand why they are dieing. :( and in my show tank, an 8' deep in wall with a gazillion watts of NO i have the same problems................am i doing something wrong????????? kc > > watts per gallon have nothing to do with proper lighting by no means. whom > > ever started it should be taken out and castrated.............. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Richard Reynolds > Richard.Reynolds@usa.net Like with every rule of thumb, it works only in an average case. If you have unusual tank with the surface of 2'x2' and 6' high this rule will not apply. But I guess the rule should work for HO fluorescence light for a standard sized tanks from the store. Do you agree Dragon Slayer or you can suggest better rule? BTW - how would you rat light over my tank - I have 2x96W 36" compact fluorescent, my tank is a regular 36"x18"x12"? Is it weak, average or bright? You're right of course, but I think people are just trying to get some "baseline" figure for wattage. I think a better measure for rule of thumb would be to indicate wattage for surface area and depth of tank. Like you said, volume means nothing. How much light would you need for a tank that is a 2 foot square column 6 feet deep? (-; Wouldn't bother figuring out the gallonage there. > Marc once said he gets a "cringe" when he hears the words "fresh water dip" > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > kc Here's the rule, Stan. If you can't take a picture of the tank that is viewable, you've got enough light. ;) Marc > You're right of course, but I think people are just trying to get some > "baseline" figure for wattage. I think a better measure for rule of [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Wouldn't bother figuring out the gallonage there. -- Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com > Here's the rule, Stan. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> You're right of course, but I think people are just trying to get >> some "baseline" figure for wattage. I think a better measure for rule >> of thumb would be to indicate wattage for surface area and depth of >> tank. >> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Personal Page: > http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html Business Page: > http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com Marine Hobbyist: > http://www.melevsreef.com so the 65 wat pc 10000k and 65 actinic on my standard 29 gallon that are 4 inches off the water is not enough? SignatureRemember, wherever you go, there you are. > so the 65 wat pc 10000k and 65 actinic on my standard 29 gallon that > are 4 inches off the water is not enough? Enough for what? shrooms, zoos, ricordias and most softies? plenty. but not clams/sps and higher light demanding LPS i have a standerd 29 with 4x65 PC (3 actinic & 1 10KK) and i have kept derasa clams on the DSB with no problems and quite a few LPS, but i wouldn't try SPS or maxima clams. thats what the bigger tanks with MH are for :) kc >> so the 65 wat pc 10000k and 65 actinic on my standard 29 gallon that >> are 4 inches off the water is not enough? [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > kc I don't care about clams, feather dusters etc. The mushroom coral that grew from roots on the live rock I was given seems to be happy, and it's on piece of rock at the bottom of the tank. I would like to get a couple of anemones though. SignatureRemember, wherever you go, there you are. > I don't care about clams, feather dusters etc. The mushroom coral > that grew from roots on the live rock I was given seems to be happy, > and it's on piece of rock at the bottom of the tank. I would like to > get a couple of anemones though. feather dusters are non photostetic, they dont require light to live. you can keep them in complete darkness and they will thrive if they have food to filter from the water. anemones are going to be a bit tough/impossiable with just 2x65 IMO. kc > Anyone know the suggested wattage per gallon for compact flourecent lights? Nope, anyone that does do not know what they are talking about when it comes to lights. For a tank that is 18-20" in height, 3x96w PCs is the general recommendation for low light demanding corals. > CF lights are a lot brighter / watt. Right now I'm running about 2.5 > watts per gallon and seems plenty bright enough. "Foo Ya ..." is the phrase that comes to mind ... Our eyes are more sensitive to red and yellow colors, but not as much to blue. So just because the light "looks" darker to us does not mean that is how the corals are going to see it. jc > .............. So just because > the light "looks" darker to us does not mean that is how the corals are > going to see it. > > jc great point jc, i run 3 actinic to 1 daylight, i like the dimmer dark blue look and my corals love it. its more then plenty of light and its not overpowering to the room. (in reference to my 29 that is in the living room) kc |
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