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RE: Lighting



>From: Warwick_D <Warwick_D at dcgate_bls.gov>
>
>I see this reference to a minimum of 3-4 watts per gallon all of the time 
>on all of the lists (Discus-l, Aquarium, and Stripes) and I think it is a 
>crock.  Lumens are much more important than wattage, not to mention type
of 
>plants, and depth of tank.  I prefer Ultra Tri Lux because they are 
>extremely bright and my plants grow very well with them at 1.5 watts per 
>gallon in a 20L aquarium.  It is 2 15w 18" bulbs with the bulbs
overlapping 
>in the middle of the tank.  Quality of light and lumen output of bulbs 
>should be a much higher concern than wattage.  The bulbs that came with
the 
>strip lights were only about half as bright as the Ultra Tri Lux bulbs, 
>thus I would have to of had 3 watts per gallon if I were going to use 
>crappy bulbs.  The other things I credit my plant growth to is the use of 
>Kent's Micro Nutrient Supplement and use of a DIY CO2 source if the plant 
>growth stalls.

You can keep a lot of plants happy under Tritons, Ultra Tri-Lux, or
SPX-50's at 1.5w/gal.  However, if you ever chose to double your lighting,
you'd see what we're talking about when we recommend 3-4w/gal minimum.

I used to keep a single, twin-tube shop light over my 55g, with a Triton
and an Ultra Tri-Lux for the tubes.  I also had homemade reflectors for the
tank.  Now, in a tank that's growing submersed plants, I'm convinced that
3-4w/gal is a good choice.

David W. Webb           Enterprise Computing
Texas Instruments Inc.  Dallas, TX USA
(972) 575-3443 (voice)  MSGID:       DAWB
(972) 575-4853 (fax)    Internet:    dwebb at ti_com
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