Tank Lighting Question

[sevenleaf]

I currently have a 2ft tank (see sig) and am looking to upgrade to a much deeper 3ft tank.

My current tank has 1x18" 15watt fluorescent tube, and isn't too bright. Ok I can see the fish, but I always think it looks dimly lit.

I'm only looking for 3ft tanks with 2x tubes in the hood, as I'm worried that if there's an extra 6" between tube and gravel to what I have now it's going to be even dimmer.

Am I right to be looking for 2xTubes or will 1 be sufficient? Any advice here would be great.

 

[Lateral Line]

40 Watts is a lot more then 15, it depends how deep "much deeper" is and how bright you want it. You don't mention plants, so I assume this is not an issue.

Some lamp types are brighter then others of the same Wattage. Modern tri-phosphor white lamps are brighter then say a Gro-Lux or similar as they cover more of the visible spectrum, particularly in the wavelengths our eyes are most sensitive to.

It is also possible your current lamp is getting old. Fluorescent lamps get dimmer with age and use, often a new lamp of the same type will give suprising improvement.

 

[sevenleaf]

40 Watts is a lot more then 15, it depends how deep "much deeper" is and how bright you want it. You don't mention plants, so I assume this is not an issue.

Some lamp types are brighter then others of the same Wattage. Modern tri-phosphor white lamps are brighter then say a Gro-Lux or similar as they cover more of the visible spectrum, particularly in the wavelengths our eyes are most sensitive to.

It is also possible your current lamp is getting old. Fluorescent lamps get dimmer with age and use, often a new lamp of the same type will give suprising improvement.

Thanks, Lateral Line. I changed my tube a few weeks ago. With my old Arcadia tube my plants were heardly flourishing, but were surviving. I changed it for another (called 'Tropical', off the top of my head) which was the same wattage etc. It looks brighter, but the plants aren't doing too well at all.

I just want to make sure that I've got enough light pinging around in my new tank to have lots of flourishing plants.

 

[Lateral Line]

For planted tanks of that kind of size, assuming it is not unusually deep, you should reckon on 2 Watts per US Gallon for a lowish light tank without CO2 injection. Obviously, a lot depends on the type of plants you have, Crypts, straight Vallis, a few Swords, Java Fern etc., will work in that kind of light regime.

If I were you, I'd ask on the planted board. George and the others there will have a lot of advice.

 

[sevenleaf]

Thanks man. Any chance you could move this topic into that section please mate?

 

[Lateral Line]

Sure.