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suppose you are implying to wpg/watt per gallon(a standard guide in using lights for planted tank).
From 2 Watts per US Gallon for low-light plants;
3 or more for light demanding plants.
W/G Rule
Can someone kindly explain to me the w/g rule which i came across in many articles? many tks
suppose you are implying to wpg/watt per gallon(a standard guide in using lights for planted tank).
From 2 Watts per US Gallon for low-light plants;
3 or more for light demanding plants.
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Basically, to get 3WPG, if your tank has 30 gallons of water, you would require 90 (i.e 30x3) watts of flourescent light. The light can either be straight flourescent tubes (aka FL), or PL lights. PL are like fluorescent tubes except that they u-shaped, or coiled. See this thread for more about PL lights.
The rule uses US gallons, not UK gallons.
Generally, for light demanding plants, you would put about 3WPG, and for less light demanding plants 2WPG.
However, the rule does not scale proportionally to tank capacity. For very large tanks, 2WPG is enough for light demanding plants. For very small tanks, you may need to go as high as 4 to 5 WPG. My own guage:
- very small tanks: standard 2 ft long tanks or smaller.
- very large tanks: 4'x2'x2' tanks and larger.
Also, the new high output T5 fluorescent lights, coupled with good reflectors (parabolic or 'M'), produce way more light then the ordinary FLs and PLs. If you use those, you can cut the rule down by another 1/3, IMO.
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Not forgetting, the guideline is for standard sized tank. Light wattage per gallon required for a 5x2x2 and 2x2x5 will not be the same.
Last edited by |squee|; 7th Oct 2006 at 00:33.
tks for all the info
It's a bit misleading to call it a rule.. it's more of a guide
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