# How much light on emersed tanks?



## Hashbaz (Apr 23, 2006)

How much light is everyone using on their emersed setups? Does the wpg rule still apply?

I have had a 15 gallon tank with 55W (3.7wpg). I have had it set up for over a year and expected faster growth. I recently set up a 75 gallon tank with 220W (2.9 wpg) and have not seen hardly any growth yet (but some plants are still converting to emersed growth).

I've read that a lot of plants grow a lot faster emersed. Do emersed tanks need more light than water filled tanks?


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

I always go with as much light as I can fit over the enclosure. It's not like you have to worry about algae. Overheating, perhaps, but if you can avoid that, go for it. You can keep things going with less, but if you're going for flowering and so on, it certainly doesn't hurt.


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 19, 2008)

I grow my emersed aquatic species outdoors in full sun, so there's no such thing as too much light for many of them (though some do prefer some shade as I've found out).


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

When the plants are first converting, I'd keep the light lower, as they can dry out/burn with too much light. Once they're established, though, give 'em as much as you want (or can). 

Like lego, I kick my emersed plants outdoors for the summer in full sunlight (cuts back on the electric bill LOL). They love the extra light & warmth and send out new growth (and flowers) like crazy. About a month ago, I chucked one sad-looking little 2" stem of Bacopa monnieri outdoors in a 4" pot. It's now growing over the edges of the pot in all directions and I've trimmed it back at least twice '

Like Cavan said, there's no algae to worry about, so go nuts and give it all you can.


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## Hashbaz (Apr 23, 2006)

Thank you for the input everyone.

Does anyone have examples of how much light they have on a particular setup?


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## ShrimpNewbie (May 29, 2011)

I have a pretty good example I'll take a pic in a momment and edit this post

















I love leds, all the light without the heat, I plan on a much brighter setup when I do the 4 shoeboxes in a tub setup, these are the bulbs I'll be using








four of these so one 15 watt led per shoebox, they're ultra bright and about 7000k


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