watt per gallon exception: tiny tank

mellowvision

mellowvision

Seafood Lover
May 17, 2007
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Brooklyn NY
www.mellowvision.com
Real Name
Bill Brissette
I am setting up a 4 gallon tank, that will have about 3.5 gallons of water when all said and done. the tank will not have co2 or ferts. low light, low tech. it will be planted though, and I am wondering about wattage. I currently have a warm white 7w CF screwin that is too warm, not bright enough. also, the light is behind a clear plastic splashguard that has a diamond pattern, diffuses the light a bit. also, the tank is narrow and tall. it's 8.5" square and the water column is 13" tall



what would the ideal wattage be?
also, ideal temperature? 5000k? 5800k? 6000k? 6500k?
 
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Color temp of a fluorescent bulb isn't important, there is no ideal color temp for plants. If the light is mostly white it will grow plants.
 
The color temperature will help you judge how things will look under the light. The 5 to 6K range is pleasant to look at because it seems like daylight to our eyes. Since the plants don't know the difference, why not get one that looks good?
 
an additional thought here, might change your opinion MG, I realized today that the tank gets at least an hour, maybe more of intense direct sunlight. it's in the brightest room of the house, but I didn't realize the sun was in direct line with it, until I saw it today...

does this change my lighting needs much? or, should I just use the lamp for a shorter duration?
 
like anything trail and error. i would try and move it. direct sunlight is a very easy cause of algae. i would run the lights 8 hours a day see how that goes. those little compact bulbs you dont have many options. the two bulbs i have seen are soft white or day light bulbs. out of those two options i would take day light bulb always.
 
I actually found nearly every color temp in that size, in wattages ranging from 7 to 15 watts... I forget the link now but I'll find it again...

I really don't have many other places for the tank. it is small, but it's a goal to actually be able to see it from somewhere other than my office chair... all my other tanks are in my homeoffice. being that it's mainly for shrimp, I think I might be ok with a little algae, especially if it keeps to the black beard variety... if I get a string of green hair algae, I think I'll go nuts. lol

the only way I can really shade it from the sun is to cut off the main light source to my entire appartment. so that's not an option either. in the summer months when the sun is higher, there will be less chance of beams hitting it directly, but the room is a bit brighter on the whole.

I guess I'll have to wait and see.

It does raise another question:

I was planning on planting it for low light... should I treat it more like a medium-high light tank as far as plant choices or should I continue with the low light selections?
 
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