Reply With Quoteanyone know?
I've always read about how the watts per gallon rule of thumb does not apply to small tanks and how lights should be more intense. i'm going to set up a nano tank soon (about 4 gallons) with fert and excel dosing.
does anyone know how high the watts per gallon rule of thumb should be modified to cater to smaller tanks? should it be doubled, or tripled, or is there just a minimum wattage one must use regardless of tank size and totally ignoring the rule?
anyone know?
every last person on the forum doesn't know this?
hey, here are 2 links you can go check out
i also have a nano tank at 5 gallons and is blasting 36watts on it.. but thats becos i tryin to grow cabomba furcata, watermilfoil and HC.. ha.. ;p
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/Lighting/
http://www.fitchfamily.com/lighting.html
thanks for the linkswow it looks like i need 30-40W for my tank based on those sites...that's pretty high!
This watts per gallon rule for nano tanks confuses me. The more I read it the more I don't get it.
According to the calculator on the links by saiofsais, I would need 35 watts over a 2.5 gallon tank. That's a bit over the top , don't you think. I've had success growing high light plants like glosso in a 2.5 gallon tank with only a 9 watt clip on light.
My 1 foot cube have seen better growth and less algae issues since I dropped the lights from 24 watts to 13 watts. Of course I've seen successes and excellent plant growth from fellow hobbyist blasting 72 watts over a 1 foot cube tank but from my experience with nanos, more lights means more things can go wrong.
i've heard the same from various experts here on the forum and finally decided on a 13W fixture on my 4gallon cube. gonna be dosing ferts and excel so hopefully the plants grow well
Are you dosing co2 as well?
nope, just excel and EI
IMHO, it depends on the knowing the requirements of the flora then calculating on how much watts is needed.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks