How many "WPG" do I have now? - Aquarium Advice

bs6749 · 09-06-2007, 12:04 PM

Hi all. I recently decided to upgrade my lighting in my 55 gallon tank from the 2 incandescent hoods that each had 18W "Plant Gro" bulbs in them to a 130W Coralife freshwater compact fluorescent setup. The kit came with 2 x 65W 6700K bulbs (the freshwater version as I mentioned) but I'm not sure how many "WPG" I have.

I am wanting to base this on what the WPG scale was created with, which I have heard is NO fluorescent bulbs. I know watts are a measure of power used and that there are other factors that influence plant growth such as intensity (lumens) and color of the light (K). I guess what I am trying to ask is how many "WPG" would I have in comparison to the NO bulbs that the scale was based on to begin with? I mean... are my CF bulbs 1.5 times as much as a NO setup.... more, less? Also, how do T5 type bulbs compare to NO bulbs? TIA.

Jchillin · 09-06-2007, 12:09 PM

Try using WPG Rule theory thread. It comes with some spreadsheets to make the calculations.

bs6749 · 09-06-2007, 12:56 PM

Thanks, so I'm basically a little over 3 "WPG". I shoulda gone with T5's as they seem to be a much better deal.

pitt420dude · 02-28-2008, 01:26 PM

Hey BS, I was thinking of buying that 48" 2x65w corallife light fixture as well. It would be good for a medium tank right?

Why is the T5 a better deal?