Watts per Gallon?

Ian H

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Shipley, West Yorkshire, UK
I have touched on this question in a number of threads and never got an answer.............So here we go again in it's own thread.

When watts per gallon (WPG) are quoted is it related to US or Imperial gallons?

I have what is called in the US a 20g long tank with a 75 litre capacity which equates to 16.5 gallons Imperial.

In terms of lighting having 90 watts I've got either 4.5 WPG or 5.5 WPG. I know I have enough lighting but there is a significant difference as you can see.

Message to ops..............Sorry if this is in the wrong topic category, but I considered it a dosing point.

Ian
 

JadeButterfly

Guru Class Expert
Jan 23, 2005
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Re: Watts per Gallon?

from what i remember

WPG is based on watts from 48" t12 NO flourescent over US gallon
 

chubasco

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Re: Watts per Gallon?

JadeButterfly is correct, but doesn't matter what length of NO T12 lighting.
Ian, Eater of Threads, someone should've told you, this forum is based in the
US, and we go by regular ol' US gallons over here. You'll have to factor
accordingly:so you have 4.5 wpg, then. Thanks for visiting, :D

Bill
 

Ian H

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
265
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Shipley, West Yorkshire, UK
Re: Watts per Gallon?

OK, Bill and Jade I concede that it is based on the smaller US gallon then. As Tom has quoted me in the past the UK is the equivelant of a small US state and I 'bow' to the majority.

The gallon is one of the few things that must be bigger in the UK than the States. Why didn't you call it a gallun then?..........................I mean colour became color, litre = liter etc. etc.

Worrying thought, but is the whole of the US economy based on people that issued short measures and couldn't spell? :D

Ian
 

fosteder

Guru Class Expert
Feb 3, 2005
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Rochester, NH
Re: Watts per Gallon?

The Imperial Pint is bigger too! I would say you Brits have it right! 20 oz of beer is way better than 16.....
 

Greg Watson

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Jan 23, 2005
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Re: Watts per Gallon?

Ian H said:
I have touched on this question in a number of threads and never got an answer.............So here we go again in it's own thread.

When watts per gallon (WPG) are quoted is it related to US or Imperial gallons?

I have what is called in the US a 20g long tank with a 75 litre capacity which equates to 16.5 gallons Imperial.

In terms of lighting having 90 watts I've got either 4.5 WPG or 5.5 WPG. I know I have enough lighting but there is a significant difference as you can see.

Message to ops..............Sorry if this is in the wrong topic category, but I considered it a dosing point.

Ian

It's just my opinion ... but most of the forums I read are usually talking about aquariums distributed by US manufacturers in US gallons ... and when I've seen references to non-US aquariums, they have always been expressed in litres ...

I have never seen anyone mention an Imperial gallon ...

If anyone talks about a measurement other than gallons, the conversion usually goes to litres ...

I don't mean this in a smart mouth manner ...but I would assume (of course everyone knows what *ass*u*me* means) that the "context" of gallons and litres are relatively self-explanatory ... and that the "context" is almost always obvious to at least me ...

But everyone's own "context" is subject to their own interpretation ... to me, the WPG characterization is an easy context to read ... but then to me, 4.5 WPG or 5.0 WPG is not "enough light" but WAY TOO MUCH LIGHT ... so clearly, "context" to me characterizes that as way too much light but "context" to you describes that as "enough light" ...

So I doubt that my opinion has much relevance in this context !!!!!!
 

chubasco

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Re: Watts per Gallon?

Greg, maybe lumens per pint (lpp) might work out better for Ian :)

Bill
 

Greg Watson

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Jan 23, 2005
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Re: Watts per Gallon?

bill ruyle said:
Greg, maybe lumens per pint (lpp) might work out better for Ian :)

Bill

Hey ... don't go picking on one my British friends ... or I'll sick her majesties kingdom on you ...

Didn't someone describe me as an Anglophile?

Greg
 

Ian H

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Shipley, West Yorkshire, UK
Re: Watts per Gallon?

bill ruyle said:
Greg, maybe lumens per pint (lpp) might work out better for Ian :)

Bill
Not really Bill as I'd have to buy a light meter. All I wanted was a clarification so that I was reading the same script as you all. And lpp wouldn't work either due to the US pint being smaller also.

In reality the proper full volume gallon is now virtually obsolete. You can still buy a pint of ale, but I buy petrol in litres. My brain has a tendancy to adhere to lbs and oz,feet and inches and pints and gallons even if the EEC would prefer it not to. :confused:

Thanks for the support Greg, Bill must have forgotten that I own his town.

Ian
 

Greg Watson

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Jan 23, 2005
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Re: Watts per Gallon?

Ian H said:
In reality the proper full volume gallon is now virtually obsolete.

No such thing as a baker's dozen in the fast food mega mart grocery stores these days either ...

Ian H said:
You can still buy a pint of ale, but I buy petrol in litres. My brain has a tendancy to adhere to lbs and oz,feet and inches and pints and gallons even if the EEC would prefer it not to.

I can still flip back and forth relatively easily in "practice" ... but it is harder for me to "think" in metric equivalents to US/English equivallents ... As a "missionary kid" I grew up in Kenya East Africa, so I grew up in a metric world ... it is so much easier, and in my opinion - precise in practice ...
 

fosteder

Guru Class Expert
Feb 3, 2005
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Rochester, NH
Re: Watts per Gallon?

Greg Watson said:
I can still flip back and forth relatively easily in "practice" ... but it is harder for me to "think" in metric equivalents to US/English equivallents ... As a "missionary kid" I grew up in Kenya East Africa, so I grew up in a metric world ... it is so much easier, and in my opinion - precise in practice ...

I agree with you Greg. In engineering school almost everything we did was using the metric system. It is so much easier and more precise. When I first started working, all of the projects I was assigned to were Metric. Now I am working in inches and it is tough. I am one of the few people at work who actually think in mm instead of inches. :D
 

Laith

Lifetime Charter Member
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Jan 24, 2005
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Geneva, Switzerland
Re: Watts per Gallon?

Why would you consider it tough? I mean it's pretty straightforward and logical :D :


12 inches = 1 foot
3 feet or 36 inches = 1 yard
1,760 yards = 1 mile
5,280 feet = 1 mile
128 ounces = 1 gallon
4 quarts = 1 gallon
2 pints = 1 quart
16 cups = 1 gallon
16 ounces = 1 pound
2,240 pounds = 1 ton

I mean, really, what's the difference?:

10mm = 1 cm
100 cm = 1 meter
1,000 meters = 1 kilometer
1,000 ml = 1 liter
1,000 mg = 1 gram
1,000 grams = 1 kilo
1,000 kilos = 1 ton

:eek: :p
 

chubasco

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Re: Watts per Gallon?

Laith, that is interesting.
I must've learned it all wrong:

2000lbs=one ton
1000kilos=2.2 tons as 1 kilo=2.2lbs

There must be a disparity in weights and measures between the US and EU.
Maybe this explains the sinking dollar to the rising euro! :(

Bill
 

chubasco

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
284
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Re: Watts per Gallon?

Ah, yes, long ton and short ton.

long ton=2240lbs
short ton=2000lbs (US)

Bill
 

chubasco

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Re: Watts per Gallon?

Ian H said:
Maybe the US Dollar is only 4/5th's value like the US Gallon. :)

Ian

Ian, let me have 4/5th's of a quart of something (Mount Gay Rum comes to mind), and I'll get right back to you on that. :p

Bill