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View Full Version : Added 48w of Actinic 03 to the cube, ~21wpg update


cpreefguy
Sat, 7th Jan 2006, 03:26 AM
Well, I finally got around to ordering an actinic PC retro for my nano cube. Its 2x24w of Actinic 03, along with 1x70w 10k and 1x70w 20k DE Halides bringing the watt per gallon count to ~21 :)
I just retrofitted it tonight, so Ill take pics tomorrow when the lights come on!
GaryP
Sat, 7th Jan 2006, 02:22 PM
Did you provide sunglasses for your fish?
GaryP
Sat, 7th Jan 2006, 02:29 PM
How may watts per square foot does that work out to?
cbianco
Sat, 7th Jan 2006, 02:31 PM
How may watts per square foot does that work out to?

Lol, you would ask that Gary :)

Christopher
GaryP
Sat, 7th Jan 2006, 02:48 PM
Chris,

IMO watts/sq. ft. is a little better measure of light intensity because of the varying depth of different tanks. Obviously you would still want to use more light in a deep tank. There is no perfect measure, but I have have found that watts/sq. ft. is better. 21 watts/gal. is probably equal to 42 watts in a deeper tank. As you probably know, intensity falls off in a ratio to the square of the distance from the source.

That means that if the light you see at 2 ft. from a bulb is 1/4 what you see at 1 ft. from the same bulb. At 3 ft. its 1/9 as intense.

Here is a pretty good resource:

http://www.fishdomain.com/lighting.shtml
JimD
Sat, 7th Jan 2006, 02:51 PM
If I put a 100 watt light bulb over a 1 gallon tank, does that mean I have 100 watts per gallon? lol... Whered you get the halide settups?
Ross
Sat, 7th Jan 2006, 03:06 PM
I'm about to have 150w halide and 72w of pc over my 12g.
cpreefguy
Sat, 7th Jan 2006, 03:11 PM
Hey Gary, the display is about 11"Hx12"Dx14.5"L, Im not so good at math, so watt/sqft is up to you :)
Also, I went to RC's tank volume calculator and apparently my display is only 8.3 gallons, which means I have ~22.7 wpg :)
GaryP
Sat, 7th Jan 2006, 03:24 PM
Hey Gary, the display is about 11"Hx12"Dx14.5"L, Im not so good at math, so watt/sqft is up to you :)
Also, I went to RC's tank volume calculator and apparently my display is only 8.3 gallons, which means I have ~22.7 wpg :)

12 X 14.5"/144 = 1.20 sq. ft.

188 watts/1.2 sq. ft. = 156 watts sq. ft.

100 watts/sq. ft. is normally recommended as a minimum for a "typical" SPS type reef tank (21-25" deep). I'd say you are a bit over the miniumum for a 12" deep tank. Probably over double that.
cpreefguy
Sat, 7th Jan 2006, 04:11 PM
Cool, thanks Gary http://images.nasioc.com/forums/images/smilies/banana.gif