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Got my new light today, got it second hand from LFS as there redoing some of there tanks so where selling them off. its a fluro compact with those thin type tubes 55 watts each x2. total of 110watts ok so my tank is 60 gallon 24" deep. so taking the depth into consideration could someone kindly tell me how many watts per gallon i now have?
even with the dismal 1 watt per gallon i had before i got some cuttings from my plants for my desktop tank. i cant wait to see my plants grow now :88)

loulou,

You are just a little shy of 2wpg – 110W/60G = 1.83wpg

With a rather deep tank (I know some say depth is not an important measurement) I would say you are still on the lower medium range, best case medium. But no doubt should you see an improvement from before .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi,
Since it came with bulbs, go ahead and use them. When you
decide to replace them, try going from 6700K to either
8,000 or 10,000K bulbs. As you go higher in temperature
(degrees Kelvin) the light contains more of the blue end
of the spectrum that penetrates deeper into the tank.
The other end 4,000 - 5,000K contains more of the red end
of the spectrum. The 6700K is about in the middle.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

hey Frank, they are 10,000K tubes so is this better? will it just mean it will penetrate the water a little better? one more question, now i have more light should i now increase my CO2 a little as far as bubbles per second? soo much to learn so little time to do it

loulou,

I would say that the question if you should increase your CO2 depends on what it was before. Bubbles are also only a relative measurement (as a bubble that escapes directly through the surface will not anything to the water); better would be to know your CO2 concentration in ppm. This can be easily done when ph and KH are known. [link=here]http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link] is Chuck Gagg&#8217;s chart to calculate CO2 from these parameters.

I would say you should not have more than 20ppm of CO2 as your light is still rather limited. How do you get your CO2 anyways? Bottle or DIY or what?

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi,
Yes, the 10K bulbs will penetrate the water colum better
than the lower K bulbs. However, this only becomes
pertinent in tanks 24 inches or deeper. The standard
18 inch tall tanks will run perfectly well with the lower
6700K bulbs.

As far as increasing the bubble rate of the CO2 system
is concerned, it may not be necessary. Run the lights,
for a couple of 10 hour days, and watch the pH/KH
readings. Use the chart to plot your CO2 saturation
and adjust as necessary to hold the saturation between
20 and 30 mg/l. In other words, keep it in the "OK" area.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--