Wattage to Volume ratio?

[nickb]

hey guys can anyone help me out? whats the rule of thumb for how many watts of lighting you need per gallon/liter of water for the tank? Also my tank is 300L but relatively deep(75cm) for its length(90cm) so will I need to take this into account?

I heard its 1 watt/gallon, but then have heard other ideas aswell....

Cheers
Nick

[AMDPhenomX4]

Is it A freshwater planted tank? Or is it just fish. If its Reef I would go with a Nova T5 or Metal halides with around 500Watts. If its FW planted, Then a PC light would work fine. If its just fish, then any light you want.

[nickb]

hey man, planted setup with fish, not extreamly heavily planted though. SO what do you mean by a PC light? cheers

[InfernoST]

PC is Power Compact fluorescent.

[jsoong]

What plants are you planning to have? How high tech you want to go? <ie CO2, ferts, etc?>

If you want just a few plants, you are best to go with low light (1-2 WPG) to avoid algae. Your tank is about the same size/depth as mine & my 4x32W = 128W of T8 works fairly well at low/med level. That is about the same light level as 2x54W T5-HO, or 2x55W PC. <Those 3 are your best choices IMO .... 1 WPG is too little light ... tried it, & nothing grows.>

[mgamer20o0]

i am going to have to agree. get a 2x54w T5 ho it should be ok for you. how much light you will need over the tank depends on what type of plants you are adding not how many.

[nickb]

hey guys thanks for the help.

to anwser some questions; i aim for a resonable setup, i dont have the money to afford a high tech system, in terms of CO2 i thought id try a DIY injector from yeast culture. Plant wise im not fully edjucated on the various species yet but want a variety of grasses, shrubs and taller plants, at a moderate quantity but not the intensity that you see in 'Winner of Planted Aquarium 2009' scale. Hope that helps?

So aiming for a bit over 100W by the sounds then.... What about 3 x 38W bulbs?

[jada]

You know i was interested in it too, so your advices are rather helpful for me. Tnx a lot! :p