# 3 watts /gallon?



## kivit (Aug 29, 2005)

I have spent an hour reading [got up at 5am] about lighting here, plus another 45 minutes on AH Supply.
they suggest 2 X 55 bright kits for a 55 gal. won't this only provide 110 watts or 2 watts/gal?
If the optimum is 3watts/gal, how do I accomplish this with the following tanks?
55gal 48" X 12'
90gal 48" X 18"
110gal 60" X 18
my husband says he will build the enclosures or retrofit the existing strips. do the enclosures sit on a glass cover? If not, how do I prevent evaporation?
I need advice!


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## Emc2 (Oct 29, 2005)

Hey Kivit. 

There are plenty of options for getting more light over your tank. There's nothing wrong, however, with the suggestions on AH. It depends a lot on what you want to grow and what your objectives are. 

An easy way to get more light over the 55 is to go with a fixture like coralife. The single strip has 2 x 65 watt bulbs which would give you a bit more light than the AH kit. There is also a double coralife strip which gives you 4x65 watts. I imagine that there is a 4 x 65 watt kit is available from AH also. Both of those options may be a lot more than you need particularly given the reflectors on the AH kits.

I would start by detirming what you want to grow and how much maintenance you want to do (increased light = increased maintenance) then call AH and see what they recommend. 

Happy hunting. 

Erin


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

With 3wpg you can grow almost any plant you want, but this will be a high maintainance tank. If this is your first planted tank I would stick with 2wpg until you get the hang of things. This way you will have a low maintainance tank which will be easier to take care of.

For 3wpg you would need 165 watts for the 55G tank, 270 watts for the 90G tank and 330 watts for the 110G tank.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

The consideration with AH is the length of the lights. Two 55's end to end will give good light coverage for a 55, which is a long, narrow tank. I am a believer in having light fixtures that can give variable amounts of light depending on your needs. I like to start out with low to moderate light and then increase it when the plants are well established and there are no green water problems. For a 55 gallon I would recommend getting four 55 watt fixtures and wiring it so that either two or all four can be switched on. That way, you can start out with 2 55's---2 watts per gallon. When the plants are well established, you can switch on the other two and have 4 watts per gallon.


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## kivit (Aug 29, 2005)

*3 watts /gal*

THAT's all good info. love this chat! 
Erin, thanks for the reminder that more light =more work. As a newbie, I have no idea what it entails.
Trena, that is exactly the numbers I was seareching for.
heypK, i like your toughts about having flexability. That makes good sense. if I am going to outlay the money, i would like to do it right the first time. Having more options is a good idea. aHS doesn't like taking calls to ask about wattage. They suggest an email which they say they might not have time to answer. so i emiled them, and asked on here.
thank you all for your thoughts.
Joyce


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Joyce, let me throw one more log into the fire, so to speak. I would venture to guess that you will be able to grow most anything you want with a 2x55 ahs kit over your 55. They will grow at a moderate rate, and you won't have the headaches that the extra wattage can give you if you don't stay on top of it constantly. AHS reflectors are imo, the best out there. HeyPK makes a good point about having flexibility, if more intense lighting is something you're going for, but, if it were me, I would only wire in one more 55 rather than 2 more. My 2 cents worth.


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## kivit (Aug 29, 2005)

*3 watts/gal*

thanks Bert.
i should take it slow until I know what I am in for!


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