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30 inch Terarium lighting


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I don't use bulbs but T5, better for energy usage and long tanks.

2x 54 W T5 on a 47 inch tank if I do the conversion right (120 cm) works fine for me so i would gues at say 2x 36 watt for this smaller tank if it not very wide or very high.

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I agree, linear fluorescent tubes are likely better. The tubes cover a larger horizontal surface area allowing more overlap in the light distribution, and the physical dimensions of the tubes allow more light to be reflected downwards. In my opinion this is important, because fluorescent tubes spread light in a 360 degree angle. If the surface to be illuminated is directly below the light source, then half the light is wasted without a reflector (with a linear tube).

I find it useful to use a online lumen/lux calculator to get an estimate of what kind of light intensity to expect, as well as a light meter to check what kind of light intensity the plants actually receive.

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Light spectrum is just as important as wattage. Plants can't make much use of green light, but some fluorescent lights output a high percentage of there light in this spectrum. The human eye is most sensitive to green, so appear bright to us - but not to plants. So, to qualify whether 2 x 65W would be sufficient one would have to see the spectral output graph too.

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Light spectrum is just as important as wattage. Plants can't make much use of green light, but some fluorescent lights output a high percentage of there light in this spectrum. The human eye is most sensitive to green, so appear bright to us - but not to plants. So, to qualify whether 2 x 65W would be sufficient one would have to see the spectral output graph too.

The bulb is 6400K, I thought this was the colour temperature needed for plant growth?

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Elliot

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Yes, 6400 - 6500K is usually considered a good fit for photosynthesis, but it doesn't really tell you much about the spectral distribution. Most people seem to have reasonable growth rates under this colour temperature. Although primarily about aquarium lighting, much of the following article applies to normal plant lighting too: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html

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