how much light?

[mich]

Hi

I know its one of those questions that will get varied answers but can anyone tell me if there is a minimum watts per litre for lighting required for a planted tank like in reef's?
2.5 ft deep (6x2x2.5) average plants.

I was thinking T5's (if i go planted) but unsure of requirements
If I do, it wont be heaps, maybe one raised section planted.
Thanks heaps

[ILLUSN]

2.5 go halides better penetration

[JamezMan]

I agree. You will need a fair bit of light to get down to those depths, especially the bottoms of your plants.

[Tommo]

Hi Mich ,Is The Light Going To Be Placed On Top Of The Cover Glass ? Or Is It Going To Be Mounted To The Underside Of The Hood ?Or Is It Going To Be Suspended ?

Cheers

[ILLUSN]

Sorry mate forgot you asked about wattage, ideally for a full on CO2 driven plant tank 2.5 as a minimum up to 4.0w/US G (4L). for this kind of tank you need VERY dense planting with lots of fast growers (rotala etc), if your only after a few swords, crypts anubis etc then 2.0 should be fine, again CO2 will help, but you wont NEEEED it, i'd go 3 250w 6500k halides above with maybe a single 80w t5 blue/actinic strip to balance out the color for high light. for moderate light maybe 2x150w halides (6500k) and a double 80wt5 (one red/pink tube one blue)

[garikfox]

plantgeek.net taught me everything I ever wanted to know. :wink: