LMOUTHBASS
11-07-2003, 4:23 PM
what is the correct amount of lighting to have in my 55 gal? i bought 2 15 watt "plant lights" for my tank as my tank has two hoods on it- is this enough or shoul i be getting something else???
Leopardess
11-07-2003, 4:31 PM
Well, there isn't a set amount of light to have "right" light. It depends on the plants you want to grow. Some plants will do fine with very little light, some won't grow "properly" without 4 wpg! You only have 30w in a 55g tank, which means you only have slightly over 1/2wpg, which is really virtually useless to growing plants, BUT you might be able to get away with Java Fern or Java Moss, but even then they prefer at least 1 wpg.
I used to have the same lighting as you (its how the tank came), but I upgraded to 160w (a bunch of which is lost because of set-up) and can grow many plants. I'd consider looking into the lighting kits at www.ahsupply.com.
superjohnny
11-07-2003, 5:11 PM
Shoot for 2 watts of light per gallon of water. That's a good starting point.