Ok went into one of my local shops today and was tryin to figure out what kind of cover to get and what to do for lighting, and the guy working basically told me that the x amount of watts per gallon doesn't mean anything for growing plants. He said I should get a T5 light strip rated @ I think 34 watts for both my 20 and my 45, it seems ok for the 20.... they set upsare about 70 each. He was telling me to never go by watts and that I should go by lumens, any truth to this?
Lighting again!!!
- Thread starter jpd1821
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Wattage is better than lumens. Lumens can vary drastically between different types of bulbs yet they will grow plants equally well. An example is a gro-lux bulb that is designed for plants, it has an extremely low lumen rating because it isn't meant to look great for us.
The 34w T5 will be great for your 20g tank, T5s are very efficient and you'd be around 2wpg which will grow many kinds of plants. The same fixture would put you in the very low light setup for the 45g tank, which limits you to mostly java plants, anubias, and crypts.
The 34w T5 will be great for your 20g tank, T5s are very efficient and you'd be around 2wpg which will grow many kinds of plants. The same fixture would put you in the very low light setup for the 45g tank, which limits you to mostly java plants, anubias, and crypts.
have a t5 set up on one of my 20 gal tanks. think its the same watts. i would look online you should be able to find them cheaper.
T5s are 39W per tube adn have been gaining in popularity.
Individual Tek reflectors are among the best ways to go. I'd suggest 1 for a 20L, 20 for 40-55g tanks.
Wattage is commonly used because that's the one number that's readily available no matter the bulb. It's actually a combination of spectral output, CRI, lumens and wattage that determine if a bulb is OK for you (and your plants, corals - whatever) or not. Of course, this is confounded by the depth of your tank, the distance between your bulbs & water, whether or not your tank is covered - and with what...
Individual Tek reflectors are among the best ways to go. I'd suggest 1 for a 20L, 20 for 40-55g tanks.
Wattage is commonly used because that's the one number that's readily available no matter the bulb. It's actually a combination of spectral output, CRI, lumens and wattage that determine if a bulb is OK for you (and your plants, corals - whatever) or not. Of course, this is confounded by the depth of your tank, the distance between your bulbs & water, whether or not your tank is covered - and with what...