hamstermann

How do you figure watts per gallon with a T5 light that provides more light with less wattage? I want to be sure my plants in my 55 are getting what they need.

Butterfly

http://www.plantgeek.net/glossary_viewer.php?gid=314 this is all I could find, don't know if it will help or not.
Carol

vin

Wattage is wattage....For example, if you have 55w of light over a 55 gallon tank, you'd have 1 watt per gallon. I think but I'm not sure, that the recommended light per gallon in a planted tank is 3w per gallon. The color and UV is another story...You can have a broad spectrum of colors in lamp temperature.....Less watts means less watts....You can't get more light from a low wattage bulb, but you can get a different color and that has to do with the temperature of the lamp which is determined by use of the kelvin temperature scale. 5500k is considered as close to average daylight as you can get.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_temperature

hamstermann

wow, that was good info. Thanks!

vin

You're welcome! If you have a good LFS with knowledgeable fishkeepers, they should be able to recommend a good series of broad spectrum lamps with the proper wattage for your tank.

Amorinthe

of course, finding a good lfs with people who really know what they're talking about it easier said than done.

Mike

I run 8 T5 High Output lights over my 55 gallon reef tank and just use the total watts listed for the bulbs (8 x 54 = 432 watts). To be on the safe side I don't add watts to this total, like how a 15 watt compact flourescent is comparable to a 60 watt regular fluorescent... I think the T5s penetrate to the deepest levels of the 55 gallon just fine.

How many T5s and what bulb wattage do you have over your tank?

hamstermann

I don't remember the exact wattage, but I know I figured it to be 1 WPG going from the package. It's a 4 foot T-5 light at (I think) 10,000K.

Tom

What a second, this topic isn't about Winnipeg, I thought it was. Bummer.
Tom

hamstermann

Tom

The abbreviation for Winnipeg,Manitoba is WPG. I thought it was funny.
Tom

hamstermann

lol.

vin

Does the light look blue-ish at 10,000k?

hamstermann

I looked at the box again. Apparantly I only have half a watt per gallon at 6700k. Sorry about that.

vin

A general rule of thumb is to multiply the wattage of the flourescent lamp x 3-4 times.....So for example - a 15w fluorescent lamp is equal to 45-60w of incandescent light....Beyond that it comes down to color rendition.....Warm whites are in the 2700k-3000k range....Cool whites are in the 4000k-5500k range....

T5 HOs put out more lumens per watt than a standard T5 or T8....In general,you can use 1 T5 HO vs. 2 T5 SE or T8 SE (SE= Standard Efficiency)

Incandescent lights give off 8-20 lumens per watt....Fluorescents give off 20-80 per watt....The result is longer life, better color, lower cost and greater reliability.....t-5 lamps are