I used to be big into corals and stuff like that for salt water aquariums then my money started going else where , but anyways to the point. I have some left over lighting and was gonna set up a lil grow box in my aqurium stand. Bout 1 foot wide and 4 feet long... 3 feet and some inches tall. I was gonna set up 175 watts of compact floresents for 2 plants. THen put some alumnium along the sides of the stand to create more reflection. Would this be enough or should I start hitting up some of my aqurium mates for better lighting? I am just going to use the good old potting soil with 10-7-7 or something like that and put it on 18/6 until plants get about 3-5 inches then put them on a 24/0 then when comes time to harvest just do 12/12. I dont think heat should really be a big issue but I was thinking about cover the wall side of the stand with plastic then putting aluminum on inside of the plastic to create a more of air tight seal and using a cpu fan or just a little mini fan around 2-4 inches. My goal really isnt so much to make money, but rather have some good bud around to enjoy.
I hope someone answers you, cuz I kinda have the same question. Never into aquariums...but for the sake of less heat, and only growing a few plants, wanted to know if 150-170w CFL would be enough to bring a 2-3 plants to fruition