What Lighting Do I Need?

[sunflower]

Hi there,

I've just bought a 36" long tank and just can't seem to find out what wattage of bulb I need

The tank I was sold (from ebay) has an 18w bulb in there but this doens't seem to line up with the holes in the new tank hood I've just bought

I dont imagine it will take much to make more holes in the hood (its only made of plastic coated pressed aluminium) but I just wanted to make sure that I'm using the correct watt bulb first

Any ideas?

 

[Waterloo Kid]

If you want to grow plants then as a guideline you need approx 1.5 - 2 watts per gallon of water. You could get away with about 1 watt per gallon (wpg) but you will be very limited in the plants that you can keep. (low light only). If you just want to put fish in then it's purely a case of having enough light to see the fish. Assuming your tank is a 25 gallon then you will be looking for a min of 40 watts for plants. If you are going to keep plants you also need the correct type of light, but that's a different story that you'll need to do your homework on.

WK

 

[sunflower]

Thanks

No I'm not planning on having live plants.

The tank is 30uk gallons (36 us gallons)

 

[George Farmer]

If you're not planning on having live plants then I'd go for a cheap standard output bulb which accentuates fish colours. I'd think that a 30" 25W would fit your tank nicely. Leave the light off as much as possible (unless you're viewing it, obviously) to avoid algae build-up.

If you're from the UK then Interpet do a lamp; Interpet Beauty Light. These are specifically designed for tanks with no live plants and reduce the likelyhood of algae growth. They're about £6.

 

[sunflower]

Great thanks. I'm going to my lfs on Sunday so I'll have a look then