How much light do I have? Is this enough?

[kimberly]

I have a 58 gal, hopefully planted tank. I replaced the standard bulbs with 2 15 watt flora-gro bulbs (cfs). Then I added 2 60 watt plant bulbs, incadescent, one shines over the top, one shines through the glass in front, toward the top, but still in front. I would post a pic, but I can't figure out how to. My question is do the incadescent lights "count" as much as the cfs, therefore giving my about 2.5 watts/gallon, or are they less good/capable? I have one unused tank light that I could add to the top with a 20 watt flora gro cfs. Should I do this? Or do I have enough light already? I am looking at the cheap way out!

Thanks,
Kimberly

 

[czcz]

Incandescent and flourescent watts aren't interchangeable. I've tried 50w plant gro incandescents and don't think they're any more effective than ~20w spiral screw-in CFLs, fwiw. Plant gro bulbs worked, though.

I suggest you don't set a wpg or numbers benchmark, and instead just experiment. You're losing so much light due to the reflector shape of lamps, restrike from the bulbs, and other stuff there's no real way to measure watts hitting the tank. Start with low light plants, observe, and go from there.

Here's pics for sake of comparison. Tank size is 8g 12" tall. Look at how much light hits the substrate of the top tank. Bottom tank has the same light in both pics (23W spiral) for visual reference.

2*23W spiral screw in flourescents, socket parallel to the water surface, painted white hood as reflector.

2*13W AH Supply Bright Kit

As you can see, wpg standards only apply when there's a proper reflector and bulb. Still, with Anubias, Java, and other plants you can certainly have a very beautiful tank with your plan. Definitely try the 20W fixture too. HTH

 

[malkore]

czcz's right...incandescent lighting has the worst watts to lumens ratio...and lumens are your measure of light output...wattage is simply power consumed. Incandescents make better heaters than aquarium plant bulbs.

you're also getting a lot of light reflected off the tank, rather than going inside, with that one fixture shining through the front glass.

good luck!

 

[greenmaji]

if I had incandesent fixtures I would go with those screw in compact floresent bulbs..
if you do some homework you can find out the lumens your bulb puts out if im not mistaking alot of them come with the lumens on the package.. are lumens a better way to determan light output and if so can this information help people purchasing bulbs?

 

[malkore]

lumens are a better way to gauge things, but honestly, if you stick to fluorescent or power compacts, you can use the watts per gallon guideline well enough. The trick with screw-in PC's is, if it says 13w, equals 60watts....it's only 13watts. that comparision is stating that a 13watt power compact puts out as much light (lumens) as a 60watt incandescent.

 

[kimberly]

I added the other top to my tank with a 20 watt cf bulb. That gives me 50 watts coming down from the top. I am looking for the screw in cfs, haven't found them IRL yet, but still looking. Interestingly enough, the plants I have on the side away from the stand light are not looking as good as the ones on the side with the light and they are growing toward the side with the light as well. So when I add in the screw in cfs I will either see if I can work a way for the light to come down from the top and/or move the light fixture on a semi-regular basis. Also hoping that the additional light at the top will start helping right away.

Thanks for all of your help.
Kimberly

 

[Toker95]

I added the other top to my tank with a 20 watt cf bulb. That gives me 50 watts coming down from the top. I am looking for the screw in cfs, haven't found them IRL yet, but still looking. Interestingly enough, the plants I have on the side away from the stand light are not looking as good as the ones on the side with the light and they are growing toward the side with the light as well. So when I add in the screw in cfs I will either see if I can work a way for the light to come down from the top and/or move the light fixture on a semi-regular basis. Also hoping that the additional light at the top will start helping right away.

Thanks for all of your help.
Kimberly

Wrt to screwin lights, I haven't found many in LFS, however in my attempt to get my 30gl up to standard, I found them in all HD and Lowes, and then in Wal-mart/Cosco. Wal-mart had the best price/selection, but really didn't have a whole lot aimed at supporting plant life. Thats the challenge...

I ended up getting a bigger tank (not because of lighting) and have since taken the 30 down, but I went to ebay and found really nice deals on CF fixtures for far better prices than retail. That low of a wattage shouldn't be an issue for price imho. Now if I just had better luck with people shipping bulbs.