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How do we know we have enough wattage and the right spectrum for our plants?

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

hi Heidi

There has been a lot written about wattage and spectrum in this forum, so you might like to browse some of the threads.

Different plants require different wattage. They're broadly categorised as low, medium and high light plants. take a look at [link=http://www.tropica.com]http://www.tropica.com" style="COLOR: #FFFFFF[/link] to find out what kinds of plants need what lighting.

People talk about watts per [US] gallon (WPG) but this is really just for convenience. What REALLY matters is how far away your plant is from the light source, and how much water the light has to go through to get to your plants. So a long, low tank will obviously need less light per gallon than a tall, narrow tank.

As for spectrum, the closer to natural 'daylight' you can get, the better. Daylight is about 6500 k (kelvin). Check your lighting fixture to find its kelvin rating.

It's really a lot more complicated than this but I hope it gives you somewhere to start!

heidi

There are many brands of fluros around and in that there are speciality fluro tubes for specific purposes in diferent aquariums. A good aqu should have a wide selection will all the relivant info about each fluro tube.

Most it comes down to what you have and the $$$ you are prepared to spend. Most of the cheaper fluro tubes have a far less effeciancy life time. Yes they still give out light but that is about all. I have Sera tubes and they have a life span of about two years Au $30. I know I could have bought ell-cheapoes at the local hardware store for a fraction of the price but their effeciancy life span could be only several months.

Sound all confusing it took me many years to learn all that. My plants have never looked better using good quality lighting.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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