Watts per Gallon?

Hey guys, I've searched quite abit on the forums for a calculator to convert watts per gallon for me; And i've come up short. From what i understand you divide the total number of watts by the number of gallons your tank is. My questions are;

1. Since the fixture has two bulbs;am i multiplying my two lights at 54watts as giving 108watts for the fixture?

2. Does this whole Watts Per Gallon really help you figure out what you can and can't grow?

I just got a 2x54w T5 with 1 coralife Actinic, and 1 coralife 10k. They are over a standard 55. I want to get a 50/50 just play around with the colors a bit. (All your posts about light configuration have me intrigued!) How would that effect what i could grow?

Being a beginner to corals i want to start with some softies and work my way up. i really want to start researching what i can start to collect, however i'm a bit confused as how to really understand how much light the corals might need. All of the descriptions on sites have very vague guidelines (Low,Moderate,High) on how much light one would need. Any help with this is greatly appreciated as i know you've probably have heard this one 1k+ times!:

 

Ok, you have a 55 gallon tank with 2 54 watt bulbs thats 108 watts total. Now divide that number by your gallons 55 and you get 1.96 watts per gallon. It all depends on what you want to keep if this number means anything to you. Fish only your good but youll prob want a higher number for most corals especially sps.

 

the equation is excatly how you have it figured

you would take the sum of the 2 lamps and divide it by the amount of gallons in your tank

but not all light sources are created equal as you know

http://www.3reef.com/forums/reef-lighting/watts-watts-off-32818.html

This thread should help

http://www.3reef.com/forums/reef-lighting/p-r-values-zooxanthellae-32795.html
as should this one

Steve

 

Thanks Steve! +K! This is why i love 3reef!

 

Please be aware that WPG is a dated and not accurate portrayal of what you need wattage wise to keep a reef tank.


On that 55g, with t5ho, I would run 3-4 54w t5ho lamps if you want a full blown reef.

If you want only shrooms and other softies, 2x54 will work of t5ho.