Lighting For Plants

[Mogul]

Hi,

I've replanted my tank 3 times now because the plants kept dying. Last time I took out dying plants I put them in my smaller breeding tank which has a much brighter light (60W), compared to the 25W tube on my larger tank. The plants revived. Obvious conclusion? My big tank is not lit well enough....

I have not been able to find a brighter tube, so if I put an additional 25W light in the tank is that the equivalent of having a 50W light?

Help much appreciated.

Best,

Mogul

 

[BINKSY]

Hi,

Im not a expert on this subject but have had the same problem with dying plants in my tank, so i have been researching about lighting, FIirst of all i assume your smaller tank is not as deep as your main tank, hence the revival of the plants, you need to get as much light as possiable to the bottom of your tank, You didnt say if you have a reflector fitted, if not then certainly get one of these frst, im sure a second lamp would improve it with reflectors on both lamps, from what i have been told T5 lamps are the ones as the same length lamp has a higher wattage than a normal lamp, hence you get a brighter lamp at the bottom of your tank, bur you do need a T5 ballas controller for them, your old one wont work.



Im sure if some of the things above are not correct others will tell us



Gordon

 

[netcode]

maybe its just me but your post was a little confusing...

I have not been able to find a brighter tube, so if I put an additional 25W light in the tank is that the equivalent of having a 50W light?

i don't really understand what you mean... because obviously 25w does not equal 50w.....

also what are the sizes of your tanks.. its an important piece of information because rule of thumb is you want roughly 1+ watts per gallon(wpg) in a planted tank. if your going to be growing anything that requires more light you will want close to 2.

as for t5 bulbs, they are built so that they penetrate the water better as there is reflectors inside the bulb itself and yadda yadda ya. Also they have a few more lumens(not watts) then other size bulbs(say a t8 or t12).