Stupid plant noob question

[pcnicholson]

My 55g came with a couple 18" hoods. I think the bulbs in there are 15w? Reading these posts it looks like alot of people use MUCH more wattage than that. So, do I need to buy a couple new hoods or do the hoods I have take a higher wattage bulb?

[WeeNe858]

plants range from 1-5 watts per gallon... so upgrading a bulb and getting some new fixtures wont make the cut...you have to look into retofits or a whole fixture... and i always recommend PC because they run cooler and are more widly used.. but the price also comes with it... but do a little research on your own and expect to get 2-3 watts per gallon to be able to use a pretty good amounts of plants... and the higher wattage you go the more you will need CO2..

[bkw1982]

WeeNee's right........also depends wht type of plants your goin to grow. the mistake i made was i started out with low light plants and later decided i wanted more so i had to upgrade. Do your research find out wht u want and can afford and go from there, in the long run will save u alot of money.

try plantgeek.org for ideas, and dont forget to check AC classified ads for people giving away or selling plants

[WeeNe858]

why thank you bkw :D

yeah.. it does help if you know what types of plants you want so you can get the right lighting for them...

[Malbri]

someone had givin me a link a while back saying that the watt per gallon thing is wrong...ill try 2 find it

ok here it is...
http://www.rexgrigg.com/mlt.html

[GirlieGirl8521]

Decide what kind of plants you'd like to keep and what kind of work you want to put into the tank before you make a purchase. With more light comes more ferts, CO2 in higher light, and faster growing plants as well as algae.

If you are just wanting to increase your plant choices a bit and not get into CO2 just yet, a 130w fixture will work. Even though your 55g has 2 fixtures now, a 48" 2x65w PC fixture should fit. 130w over the tank, if you have alot of plants, shouldn't make you need CO2. I had that over my tank for awhile without CO2 and just had minimal algae problems. My tank is packed full of plants, mainly stems though.

A 260w PC fixture will allow you to grow just about anything, but you'll need a fert schedule and CO2 (pressurized) with that fixture.

There are some T-5 fixtures that might work, but the wattage won't be much more than you have now, unless you get a fixture that is meant for saltwater and replace the bulbs.

You may be able to retrofit 2 65w kits into your existing hoods. Check out http://www.ahsupply.com. I can't help ya with that though because I'm not electrically inclined. ;)