Watts per gallon

[Mo8cinco]

I need to know the watts per gallon I need fir my aquarium, I have live rock, and anemone. And fish eventually coral! My tank is 55 gal, how many watts do I need for my tank!

 

[Hinds04]

I'm not sure but I do know this kind of question is the first step, not the second...

 

[carey]

What light do you currently have? Anemones require alot of light and a very established tank. how long has your tank been up and running? Did you cycle your tank with any chemicals? Do you have your water parameters? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate

 

[Mo8cinco]

Everything is great tank has been up for 2 months nothing has died, water is perfect I just figured out that I mis calculated my watts, I only have 30 :/ would just like to know how much I actually need

 

[joy13]

Actually it depends on the type of light you want LED, metal halide or t5. What type anemone do you have? What type of corals are you wanting?

 

[Mo8cinco]

None yet waiting to get my lights fixed first, rights now I have halogen, what do you recommend?

 

[iDream]

I say T5, cheaper and very strong if you have a good fixture

 

[joy13]

Myself I say a metal halide with two 150w bulbs if heat isn't an issue either that go with t5's with separate reflectors either 4 or 6 tubes.

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

 

[DA fisherman]

I'm not sure but I do know this kind of question is the first step, not the second...

+1 and no that anemone is not good..... :-/ first if you wanted to house a anemone , you should have VERY VERY STRONG LIGHTING! Then wait about 8 months to a year...... just to make sure your tank is established, and doesn't go thru ph,nitrates,ammonia,nitrite SWINGS that will kill it.......please do more reading as they have lots of interesting web sites on anemone.

But to answer your question: watts per gallon really can't apply much since lighting has advanced.
For a anemone I say go with any
4xbulb t5 high output.
Or metal halide.. And if you have mucho money LEDs will do.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

None yet ...

Actually, you do. Anemones are a type of coral.

Agree with others... a 4 bulb T5HO would be the minimum I would consider if you want to keep the anemone healthy.

 

[Mo8cinco]

So for my tank you think a 160w t5 quad fixture would work?

 

[melosu58]

+1 and no that anemone is not good..... :-/ first if you wanted to house a anemone , you should have VERY VERY STRONG LIGHTING! Then wait about 8 months to a year...... just to make sure your tank is established, and doesn't go thru ph,nitrates,ammonia,nitrite SWINGS that will kill it.......please do more reading as they have lots of interesting web sites on anemone.

But to answer your question: watts per gallon really can't apply much since lighting has advanced.
For a anemone I say go with any
4xbulb t5 high output.
Or metal halide.. And if you have mucho money LEDs will do.

Very good advice

 

[e_murray]

I want to upgrade mine as well, I have 4 t12 IceCaps. on a 100 gallon.

I cant decide on what to get... I was thinking T5HO's because I cant afford a chiller for the MH.. and LED's I would need to sell my arms and legs... LOL

So really.. how do you calculate how many watts per gallon? I have read 3 to 5 watts. so for my 100 gallon I would need 500 watts?

Right now I have a small pulsing xenia and a mushroom. They are doing fine, but I think I need better lights before I spend any money on sps.

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

I want to upgrade mine as well, I have 4 t12 IceCaps. on a 100 gallon.

I cant decide on what to get... I was thinking T5HO's because I cant afford a chiller for the MH.. and LED's I would need to sell my arms and legs... LOL

So really.. how do you calculate how many watts per gallon? I have read 3 to 5 watts. so for my 100 gallon I would need 500 watts?

Right now I have a small pulsing xenia and a mushroom. They are doing fine, but I think I need better lights before I spend any money on sps.

While the W/Gal seems to be a rule of thumb for aquariums, I would like to point out that two similarly Watted bulbs can be very different in light output. Not only can color temperature change, but so can the raw light output (lumens). Even a 20W Fluorescent bulb can vary over 100 Lumens.

Wattage is nothing more than the measure of -energy drawn- by a lightbulb. While it's been a rather popular notion that the higher the wattage, the brighter the bulb, this isn't necessarily true. As technologies improve, bulbs have been able to provide more lumens per watt. (You may wish to google luminous efficacy.) Compare a T12 and a T5HO at the same wattage and you'll find that the lm/W is much higher for T5s.

When looking into fixtures, be sure to total the lumen count before you buy or you may find yourself with less raw light than you need and a hole burnt in your wallet...