# Newbie needs lighting (& other) advice for new setup



## mammafishy (Nov 9, 2009)

Hi...this is my first ever post on an aquatic site. Everyone seems so helpful on this site that I thought I would try to ask a couple of questions here.

I have only had my aquariums for about 8 months and I feel like I haven't even scratched the tip of the iceberg.

One area I am very confused about is on lighting especially with the T-5 and Colormax full spectrum lights. Could someone please give me some advice on my lighting?

I have a 75 gallon tank that I just exchanged the original bulbs with two coralife F/W T-5 Aqualight Double Strip Lights 
(48"). Each T-5 lamps are 28 watts each. 

So I have 2 - colormax full spectrum lights and 2 - 6700 T-5 
(5/8" diameter) fluorescent lamps. 

The way I figure it up I have 112 watts of light divided by a 75 gallon tank for 1.49 WPG. Is this correct?

The original fluorescent light is a single bulb with 40 watts of light. So if I put use all these lights together, do I figure it out as:
152 watts of light divided by 75 gallons equals 2.03 WPG?

Any advice would be helpful.

Also I have a 10 gallon and bought 2 - Coloralife Colormax Mini Compact fluorescents that are 10 watts each. When the lights came the box said 10 watts mini compact fluorescent bulbs = 50 watts of light.

So am I 10 watts over John N's chart above or am I okay?

Please help me!! I am ordering plants and I don't know if I will fry them or not. I'M SO CONFUSED!! 

Thank you...mammafishy

P.S. Can you also tell me if I need CO2 for these tanks if my tanks don't go above 20 WPG?


----------



## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: Proper Wattage for Aquariums*

Welcome to the site.

First of all, plants are pretty flexible when it comes to light intensity. In nature some species can exist in areas where there is a 1000-fold diference in light inensity even though they're separated by only a few feet. You've made great progress by getting what sounds like a perfect setup.

If you are new to aquarium plants, 1.5 wpg of T-5 light over a 75 tank is a great place to start. You might need CO2 but you can always wait & see. If you have lots of algae issues, CO2 would be a tremendous help. In my opinion, the most stable (and therefore foolproof) aquariums are moderate light, moderate fertilizer, high CO2 setups.


----------



## jestep (Nov 14, 2009)

*Re: Proper Wattage for Aquariums*



BryceM said:


> If you are new to aquarium plants, 1.5 wpg of T-5 light over a 75 tank is a great place to start. You might need CO2 but you can always wait & see. If you have lots of algae issues, CO2 would be a tremendous help. In my opinion, the most stable (and therefore foolproof) aquariums are moderate light, moderate fertilizer, high CO2 setups.


One thing I've seen with such setups, especially when bulbs start to wear out, is cyano outbreaks. cyano seems to have no problem in lower light, high co2 conditions where algae does have difficulty. Not everyone's going to get a cyano outbreak, but it exists naturally in just about everything and is a total pain to get rid of.


----------



## mammafishy (Nov 9, 2009)

*Re: Proper Wattage for Aquariums*

Thank you BryceM and Jestep for your replies!!! The lighting issue has been so confusing to me with the T-5's. Sounds like from your reply Bryce that my WPG seem acceptable for my tanks.

This is what happened when I first got my new live plants. I was so excited, had the new lighting, the plants and I was just trying to do everything right. Plus I added either 1 or 1 1/4 capfuls of 'FLOURISH' as directed on the directions (1 capful for each 60 gallons). For the first week everything did flourish like I just couldn't believe. Then I noticed my pretty white rocks in the tank were turning a lovely green. Took me until the water started to turn a light green to figure out that this must be 'algae bloom'.

I researched the lighting issue because I thought I had too many WPG. Finally I asked my husband could it have been the 'Flourish' and not the lighting. He said probably it was like a cultivated field where the fertilizer goes into a stream or water souce and you have the green algae on top. (Okay lightbulb going off iin my head now). So now I am scared to add any plant fertilizer since I have gotten it under control.

Trying to save money for now, I did buy the 'Nature Co2 System' but it was for a 20 gallon maximum tank. PETCO said I could buy 1 or 2 more to get it more to were it should be. I was hoping to just wait until I could afford to get a better system and research it more to where I think I can understand the Co2 topic a little better. CAN YOU TELL I'M A NEWBIE!!?? ha

Anyway...thanks so much for your comments. Greatly appreciated!
mammafishy


----------



## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: Proper Wattage for Aquariums*

My advice would be to start a new thread about your tank. You can describe your system in detail and you can ask advice about issues as they come up. You'll get more traffic and better advice that way. Good luck!

.......

done - voila!


----------



## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Are the T5 bulbs on your 75 high output? At 28 watts each I wouldnt think so. You typically see 54watt T5HO bulbs.
The colormax bulb isnt very strong as far as energy emissions in the blue and red. Its kind of flat output across the spectrum except for a narrow spike in the blue.









As far as watts per gallon your 75 actually has less than 75 gallons in it. My 75 has about 60 gallons of water subjected to light. The rest is in the gravel and filter or space taken up by rocks and wood. The 75 is based on the outside dimensions. At 2 wpg you can grow a lot of different plants.

Your 10 gal at 50 watts should be good for growing most plants.


----------



## mammafishy (Nov 9, 2009)

> QUOTE=Newt;521069]Are the T5 bulbs on your 75 high output? At 28 watts each I wouldnt think so. You typically see 54watt T5HO bulbs.


Hi Newt...thanks so much for replying back!! This is what I found about the T5 bulbs off the box that they came in.

I have 2 of these (4 bulbs) over my 75 gallon tank:
*T5 SERIES; DOUBLE LINEAR STRIP LIGHTS *48" Colormax Full-spectrum & 6700K Plant Lamps

Info from box:
"The Colormax Full-Spectrum T5 fluorescent lamp has color-enhancing phosphors that provide full-spectrum light from 350 to 750 nanometers. It offers high-intensity output that enhances the natural beauty of freshwater fish and plants."

Of course...this is all over my head! lol Maybe someday it will all make sense!!  Thanks so much for your help!!


----------

