I'm getting this 36g bowfront built out with a mind for 'moderately planted'.

For lighting...from what I understand...3 x 36g/watts would be reasonable for 3watts/gallon. This would be 108W.

The confusing part is...the bulbs I see being sold are all 10w/17w etc.

Also I see folks referencing LED lighting with like 4 LEDs at 2W apiece.

There seems to be a disparity between what folks recommend and what the market seems to offer.

What am I missing?

From what I understand the watts per gallon rule isnt a very good one as far as determining the level of lighting. Theres a lot more to it than just that, with things like PAR readings (which is above my level of knowledge right now but i'm working on it). It would help if you told us what type of lights you were making--CFL, T8, T5 etc. and someone should be able to point you at how many of what kind of bulb and how many watts and whatever else you may need to know.

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

Instead look at this thread.

PAR vs Distance, T5, T12, PC - New Chart

Depending on the type of light you run and distance from substrate will determine what light level you are at. High Light = Algae if you are not ontop of your setup. Low - med light is more forgiving and can still grow alot of plants.

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100 Dirt + Stuff. To be Angel baby tank.
37 Planted. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f45/pla...nal-20774.html
29 Tall community tank. 5+ Years up and running.
15 Soon to be RCS tank.

@Summer @Fishflow - thanks for responding.

To try my best to answer the questions I think were asked, and maybe just fill in what I had in mind (and display the typical new person ignorance):

* this is a 36g Bowfront, so somewhat tall. 30" x 14" x 21" (it's really 15" at the point of the bow...but subtract one for the bowing I guess) (there's probably some formula for doing this that I'm not aware of yet)

* have no plants as of yet. I started cycling the tank and decided it might be smarter to cycle it with at least some of the plants I planned on having.

* I have only the stock lighting assembly right now. Standard 24" tube fluorescent.

* Bags of Flourite waiting on the floor, enough for 3".

* The intent is to give a nice, attractive home for new friends...not necessarily on having a heavily-planted tank. Counting plants from FishFlow's thread as a reference, I'd say maybe 10 at the most? (unless bunches that appear as one plant are counted individually?)

* I'm fairly handy..I could build anything needed, working in wood, aluminum, acrylic, wiring, whatever. I just need to make sure I know what I need....or at least enough knowledge to figure out what I need.

To exaggerate in clarifying what my major confusion is: from what the general consensus is...you need closer to a zillion watts for even a mid-sized tank like a 36gBF, but yet the bulbs being sold are all under 20W. Surely they don't expect you to have 4-6 bulbs over a 36g tank? My expectation was: "If I'm going to have real plants...I'll need lighting more conducive to photosynthesis. From what I see recommended in the forums...looks like I'll need 90-100W. Guess I need to go out and get a 6500K 100W bulb."

SIDE-QUESTION: when considering CFL, do you use the actual wattage of the bulb as your value "This is a 25W bulb"...or the 'equivalent' wattage "This gives out the lighting of a 75W incandescent bulb!"?

Holy coincidental Internet result, Batman. I may have just found part of it...

Looks like you use the output wattage figure (given that they may be optimistic) for CFL bulbs.

So two 13W (as 60W) CFL theoretically provide 120W?


Correction: the OEM lamp is not a plano office fluorescent. It's an 8000K 17W T8.

How much in-depth of an understanding do you want? Let me know if you want the full story. If you do, there's a lot to learn but I find it very rewarding.

I had the same problem and reading up on lighting ended up in mass confusion. Here's what I did. Same 36g bowfront with stock 24" single bulb t8 fixture. You said you are handy so here goes...

Removed light fixture from housing (4 screws) and cut wires from power and switch. Went to a large box store that has orange everywhere and bought a cheap (like $25) 24" dual bulb t5 fixture in the florescent lighting aisle. Check the dimensions to be sure it'll fit in the stock enclosure. My store doesn't carry 21" t5 day bright bulbs so I had to get bulbs at a large box pet store. GE day bright bulbs are 5000K-10,000K color range for plants at 1/2 the price of the pet store so I'm keeping my eyes open for them as replacements. The bulbs have only 1 available watt rating for the size (21"). Lined inside of stock housing with aluminum foil, cut the foil out of the vent holes, lined up mounting holes (yes, by a freak chance they lined up), and connected power to power line and the switch to neutral (that's how the old one was). The bulbs stuck out below the bottom edge of the stock housing so I cut wood blocks to jack it up.

Presto, more than double the light output of the standard t8 bulb and in 2 days the plants were showing noticeable signs of improvement and fish looked far more colorful. I have all low to moderate light plants, swords are not growing like I would like but are not dying, but anubia's and java ferns are growing noticeably. Any questions you can PM me.

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35g planted bowfront with driftwood
Fish: 1 common pleco, 1 bristlenose pleco, 1 black finned catfish, 2 giant danios, 2 balloon mollies, 1 black molly, 2 platys, 1 clown loach, and 1 siamese algae eater.
Plants: 2 amazon swords, 1 purple sword, 1 anubia, 2 bunches java ferns, 2 big bunches anacharis.

Ok...since there's going to be some trial and error on my part (if I want to know what I'm doing and be able to fix problem) Here's what I've got going on:

(1) sheet galvanized aluminum to manufacture new housing (I've played around working with aluminum). If my OCD gets the better of me and I think the reflectivity isn't enough (after calculating the angles necessary to reflect the light 90˚ vertically) ... I might try some high-temp foil tape on the inside of the reflector. Should be able to get close to a mirror finish with careful application.

(4) exterior waterproof medium sockets

(4) Sylvania CFL 23W @ 6500K / 1450 lumens

I should have some adjustment, by either taking one of the bulbs out of the circuit to decrease, or adding the existing 17W 8000K stock fixture.

I've got rivets, silicone, and calories to burn already.

I think the biggest question is what you really want. If you just want a nice looking tank with plants consider keeping it simple and look for low light plants that are easy to grow.

You would be impressed with the setups some people have. It can be a question of how you can fit enough bulbs over a tank. Of course when you provide that much light you generally need to inject CO2 and add ferts.

Consider a 'low tech', low light planted tank if you want some pretty plants and little fuss. In that case you are aiming for more like 1.5 WPG, and no the WPG rule isn't a very good one but it just helps you to get the idea.

I found a couple of links quickly that might help:
How to Setup a Low-tech Planted Tank: A Guide for Planted Aquariums
Aquaworld Aquarium - Low Tech Planted Aquarium

lol...you're right I mistyped. You can't galvanize aluminum.
Curiously, why would you stay away from galvanized steel outside the tank?

Of course dedicated aquarium lighting would work the best. I could also go out and buy an Ecotech LED system for $800. It's not a matter of money at all...only principal. I'm not paying $200-$300 for what equates to office lighting with a specific color temperature. The market may bear that, but not this market.

Sounds like you did it up right.

The Gal Steel should work for a while. I'll have some Krylon Fusion black on the outside of it.

Something I haven't said...this lighting is more of a 'what can I do for right now since I have this $60 Home Depot gift card from Christmas?'.