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Lighting options: 400W over a 33 gallon tank?
Hi folks
I have an approx 33 gallon tank (18inches high X 14inches wide X
36inches long) over which I have four 30wat flouroescent tubes that are
now about 7months old. I'm not sure about tube costs in America but here
in Australia the cheapest price on only just suitable tubes is $17.44
per tube (brand; NEC GE Biolux) which means I'm looking at forking out
$69.76 : [ . On the other hand I have a HPS fixture and ballast that I
could get a conversion lamp for (at a similar price with a colour
temperature of 4000K). The thing is however that I can only use a
400wats lamp (it currently has a Son-T Agro 400wats bulb in it).
I figured out that I would have approx 12 wats per gallon?
Hmmmm is it just me or does that sound slightly ridiculous? *lol* I
might be able to grow whatever I want with this setup but at the same
time I'm thinking that that level of lighting is just plain wrong and
something bad is going to happen- like an evil mutant strain of algae
will take over! Keeping up nutrient levels and Co2 would probably be
crucial (and my crypts might not appreciate that amount of light) but
are there any other factors I should consider? Should I abandon the idea
or could it actually work?
T.I.A.
Damian (off to check out all the info on difficult high light demanding
plants : )