kelvins or watts?? wats more important??

[crazycanuck]

from what i have seen,you can get like 60 and 70 watt cfl bulbs,but the higher wattage ones have only like a 2,500 k rating.. should i stick with the 6,500 k bulbs that are only like 20 watts each??

1 ) 400 total watts at 2,500 k

2 ) 125 total watts at 6,500 k

the tank is 55 gallons and will be heavily planted

thanks

 

[WinnipegDragon]

2,500 Kelvin will be very yellow. I would aim for the 6,500 Kelvin, and then worry about wattage from there.

 

[livingword26]

400 watts of anything is way to much for a 55 gallon tank. It would be an algae factory. The 125 watts of 6500k will work great for mid light plants.

 

[plantling]

The standard hoods can usually only house regular flourescent bulbs w/low wattage. If you upgrade to CF lighting you can get double or tripple wattage. I would shoot for around 2 watts per gallon and 6700k.

 

[Spewn]

2500k is so orange, are you talking about hanging a 400W HPS over your tank? Don't do that. Please.

 

[rich311k]

Choice 2 should work well. You can always add a second fixture later if you want more light.

 

[crazycanuck]

2500k is so orange, are you talking about hanging a 400W HPS over your tank? Don't do that. Please.

im planning on making a diy wooden hood

 

[Sploke]

If you're building a wood canopy, look at the kits from www.ahsupply.com. I've used several of them, they are great packages. A 2x65w kit would be a good place to start, I have that over a 55 and can grow most low to med light plants with no co2 or ferts.

 

[jmhart]

When it comes to plants, the temperature rating of the bulb is more important. 2500k won't do much of anything for the plants, no matter how many watts you have. On the other side, you have have as little ad 0.5 wpg, and as long as it's 5500k or above, you'll see growth, albeit slow at that low wpg.

Additionally, you may want to try a few more watts over that 55g. This is an interesting article, analyzing Amano's light levels:

http://www.fitchfamily.com/lighting.html

 

[StereoKills]

That's a great link jmhart! Interesting to see how his lower volume tanks tend to get much more light compared to the larger tanks. Personally I prefer 6500K or a mix of 6500K and a bulb closer to 10000K.