[jiawei357]

I have a 7 gallon rimless cube and I am really confused on what lighting I should choose.
Mainly because lots of information says you need at least 1.5 Watt/Gallon to achieve medium light.
This means to achieve medium light I need to get a 10+ watt light.
BUT most finnex led light(fudgeray, planted+) fit to my tank (11.9*11.9*11.9) are less than 5 Watts.
What should I choose?
Does this 1.5 Watts/Gallon rule apply only to fluorescent light or also on led light?
I am really confused, thanks for anyone who helps.

 

[livingword26]

I believe that "watts per gallon" was originally designed for t-12 bulbs, and not for small tanks. Check out the lighting forum, and more specifically the sticky:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/10-lighting/184634-lighting-articles-faq.html

Do a little reading and ask some specific problems there.

 

[jiawei357]

I believe that "watts per gallon" was originally designed for t-12 bulbs, and not for small tanks. Check out the lighting forum, and more specifically the sticky:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/10-lighting/184634-lighting-articles-faq.html

Do a little reading and ask some specific problems there.

Many thanks. I did some research and find out par mean much more than watt on led. Thanks.

 

[theatermusic87]

I use the fugeray clip on lights on a 5g and a 3g tall, and it's plenty of light for what i need, I'd call it medium. If you're concerned about not having enough light you can always put 2 of them on your tank...

 

[jiawei357]

I just found some info on the par reading of a wave-point 8 watt micro sun led. On a 5 gallon(12'' from light to substrate) it reads about 80-95.
So for my 7 gallon cube which is about the same height it should be considered medium to high light(I can always adjust the light higher).

 

[livingword26]

I just found some info on the par reading of a wave-point 8 watt micro sun led. On a 5 gallon(12'' from light to substrate) it reads about 80-95.
So for my 7 gallon cube which is about the same height it should be considered medium to high light(I can always adjust the light higher).

Low light - 15-30 micromols of PAR - CO2 is not needed, but is helpful to the plants
Medium light - 35-50 micromols of PAR - CO2 may be needed to avoid too many nuisance algae problems
High light - more than 50 micromols of PAR - pressurized CO2 is essential to avoid major algae problems

Definitely High light. It will keep you busy.