look at it this way..imagine a 40watt 10000k bulb and a 100w 10000k bulb...their color would be the same, but their level of brightness would differ.
Can someone explain what the "K" means when talking about lights?
- Thread starter NJ Devils Fan
- Start date
The 100 watt bulb would be a whole light bigger and brighter than the 40 watt bulb. Any 10000k bulb should be the same color, a cool white 20w, 40w, 200w. Wattage and Kelvin are totally separate things.
No, that's not too much at all, you can even buy two if you are going to be keeping live plants.
A 100 watts is low for a 72g. Its about 1.4 wpg, which is considered "low light" with regards to plants. I have 2.4 wpg over my 30g and wouldn't at all mind having more. As Sting mentioned, you could double it and still be only scraping the bottom of "high light" (2-3 watts per gallon is "moderate" for planted tanks).
10000k is too blue for plants. At risk of starting another two-pager, plants will grow under 10000k light but not as efficiently as they will under warmer light. For plants, you really want to stay in the 4000k-6800k range.
If you're going to go with low light, the efficiency of that light becomes very important: 100w 10000k may be less than 1 wpg as far as the plants are concerned.
Thanks for the info. I would want to get a different ballast that has 2-3 bulbs, but the tank was really expensive along with all the stuff, so I am not in the position now to get a new one.
Yeah, stuff gets expensive fast. If your budget is the issue, look for a plant bulb, or something around 5000k. I'm using 6500k, but I think I read somewhere that 5000k is slightly better for plants. Anything in that range is good. 1.4 wpg isn't terrible, its just a little low. Java fern and moss, crypts, and an assortment of other plants do fine in lower light situations.
Tropica has nice plant profiles. Just browse through and note the plants that are "Low" or "Medium", avoid the ones that are "High" or "Difficult".
Tropica has nice plant profiles. Just browse through and note the plants that are "Low" or "Medium", avoid the ones that are "High" or "Difficult".
You sure on those?
Kelvin is a temperature scale, same increments as the celsius scale, but starts at absloute zero(-273 degrees celsius). The color is based on the radiation bof an ideal black body heated to that temperature.
"A blackbody is defined as an ideal body that completely absorbs all radiant energy striking it and, therefore, appears perfectly black at all wavelengths. A blackbody is also a perfect emitter of radiation; one that, for a given temperature, radiates the maximum number of photons possible per unit time per unit area in a specific spectral interval."
more here: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/text/MITRE-GOES_MP93W62/a-a/a-a.html
boggles the mind
more here: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/text/MITRE-GOES_MP93W62/a-a/a-a.html
boggles the mind
