New lighting question.

$eaba$$ · 10/24/2008, 06:19 PM

Hi guys,

So I have a DIY hood that i have made, and I am swapping out my lights in it. Currently, I have a 15 watt t5 bulb, and 2 coralife 20 watt 50/50 bulbs in it; 55 watts of lighting in it. I just purchased some PC lights, and am going to swap them out for the current lights either tonight, or tomorrow. I got one customsealife retrofit kit, and one sunpaq retrofit kit, each with 65 watt (50/50:10,000K/Actinic) power compact bulbs, and each light has an individual reflector. This puts me at a total of 130 watts of lighting over my 20 gallon high tank. Would you guys classify this as low, medium, or high lighting for my tank, just so I know about what kind of corals I could get. Also, would you expect a lot more algae to appear in my tank, and is there a way I could stop that? One more quick one; do you think I could keep some type of anemone in my tank with this lighting?

Thanks all, and I will post pictures as soon as it's done!!

$eaba$$ · 10/25/2008, 10:58 AM

any one?

mfinn · 10/26/2008, 09:13 AM

I would consider it low to medium lighting.
You should be able to keep many diferent soft corals, leathers, polyps, mushrooms, etc., but I would stay away from anemone's.

$eaba$$ · 10/26/2008, 09:23 AM

I am looking to change one of the bulbs to just a regular 10,000k bulb. Then, I would have one 10,000k bulb and one 50/50 bulb. This would put me at about 100 watts of 10,000k and 30 watts of actinic. Do you think this would change anything? Would I be able to keep more corals?

mfinn · 10/26/2008, 09:41 AM

What are you looking to keep in your tank?

$eaba$$ · 10/26/2008, 10:14 AM

Pretty much just some easy corals that are colorful, cheap, and low maintenance. I am getting a duncan coral later today; should that do fine with this lighting? Right now, I also have some pom pom xenia, and many different shrooms. Could you please suggest some corals for me?

Thanks!

Zimster · 10/26/2008, 01:16 PM

I would get at least 50% actinic and 50% 10000K if you want your corals to produce fluorescent colorations. With your setup of 130 watts of PC, you may be able to get away with getting a low maintenance anemone such as a condylactis or a brown-green bubble-tip (key word=may). Your setup does come to 6watts per gallon but they are PC's which produce less output per watt than T-5's or MH's. I would consider it medium to low light also.

as for corals....i would get leathers, shrooms, zoos, and deep water hard corals

$eaba$$ · 10/27/2008, 04:29 PM

I was thinking about having one 65 watt 10,000K light and one 65 watt 50/50 light. This would bring in more 10,000K light, but I would still have some actinic. Do you think I will notice a large diffrence in the colors of the corals if I would do this? What if I went with both to 10,000K so I would have 130 watts of 10,000K? How would the color in that be?

Thanks!

Zimster · 10/27/2008, 04:54 PM

You can have 10000K's....the PAR will be more....the corals will grow faster with just 10000K but they will mostly be brown in appearance. Your tank will have a more yellow tint to it. Corals utilize blue light (440nm-520nm) better than any other wavelengths for producing its energy. When more blue light is used, the corals will seem to appear more fluorescent and colorful. It all depends on if you want your corals to grow fast or if you want your tank to look good.

here's a great thread about photosynthesis, coral, and light:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1496092

10/24/2008, 06:19 PM	#1
$eaba$$ Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: California Posts: 254	New lighting question. Hi guys, So I have a DIY hood that i have made, and I am swapping out my lights in it. Currently, I have a 15 watt t5 bulb, and 2 coralife 20 watt 50/50 bulbs in it; 55 watts of lighting in it. I just purchased some PC lights, and am going to swap them out for the current lights either tonight, or tomorrow. I got one customsealife retrofit kit, and one sunpaq retrofit kit, each with 65 watt (50/50:10,000K/Actinic) power compact bulbs, and each light has an individual reflector. This puts me at a total of 130 watts of lighting over my 20 gallon high tank. Would you guys classify this as low, medium, or high lighting for my tank, just so I know about what kind of corals I could get. Also, would you expect a lot more algae to appear in my tank, and is there a way I could stop that? One more quick one; do you think I could keep some type of anemone in my tank with this lighting? Thanks all, and I will post pictures as soon as it's done!!

10/25/2008, 10:58 AM	#2
$eaba$$ Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: California Posts: 254	any one? __________________ 20 Gallon Reef: 2 Ocellaris Clowns, 2 Green Chromis, 1 Skunk Cleaner 1 H. Mag, 1 GBTA, Xenia, Mushrooms 4x24w T5HO, HOB 4gal fuge (chaeto) and Skimmer

10/26/2008, 09:13 AM	#3
mfinn Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Olympia. WA. Posts: 8,648	I would consider it low to medium lighting. You should be able to keep many diferent soft corals, leathers, polyps, mushrooms, etc., but I would stay away from anemone's. __________________ 240 gallon soft coral tank 50 gallon lps tank

10/26/2008, 09:23 AM	#4
$eaba$$ Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: California Posts: 254	I am looking to change one of the bulbs to just a regular 10,000k bulb. Then, I would have one 10,000k bulb and one 50/50 bulb. This would put me at about 100 watts of 10,000k and 30 watts of actinic. Do you think this would change anything? Would I be able to keep more corals? __________________ 20 Gallon Reef: 2 Ocellaris Clowns, 2 Green Chromis, 1 Skunk Cleaner 1 H. Mag, 1 GBTA, Xenia, Mushrooms 4x24w T5HO, HOB 4gal fuge (chaeto) and Skimmer

10/26/2008, 09:41 AM	#5
mfinn Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Olympia. WA. Posts: 8,648	What are you looking to keep in your tank? __________________ 240 gallon soft coral tank 50 gallon lps tank

10/26/2008, 10:14 AM	#6
$eaba$$ Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: California Posts: 254	Pretty much just some easy corals that are colorful, cheap, and low maintenance. I am getting a duncan coral later today; should that do fine with this lighting? Right now, I also have some pom pom xenia, and many different shrooms. Could you please suggest some corals for me? Thanks! __________________ 20 Gallon Reef: 2 Ocellaris Clowns, 2 Green Chromis, 1 Skunk Cleaner 1 H. Mag, 1 GBTA, Xenia, Mushrooms 4x24w T5HO, HOB 4gal fuge (chaeto) and Skimmer

10/26/2008, 01:16 PM	#7
Zimster Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Maple Grove, MN Posts: 86	I would get at least 50% actinic and 50% 10000K if you want your corals to produce fluorescent colorations. With your setup of 130 watts of PC, you may be able to get away with getting a low maintenance anemone such as a condylactis or a brown-green bubble-tip (key word=may). Your setup does come to 6watts per gallon but they are PC's which produce less output per watt than T-5's or MH's. I would consider it medium to low light also. as for corals....i would get leathers, shrooms, zoos, and deep water hard corals

10/27/2008, 04:29 PM	#8
$eaba$$ Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: California Posts: 254	I was thinking about having one 65 watt 10,000K light and one 65 watt 50/50 light. This would bring in more 10,000K light, but I would still have some actinic. Do you think I will notice a large diffrence in the colors of the corals if I would do this? What if I went with both to 10,000K so I would have 130 watts of 10,000K? How would the color in that be? Thanks! __________________ 20 Gallon Reef: 2 Ocellaris Clowns, 2 Green Chromis, 1 Skunk Cleaner 1 H. Mag, 1 GBTA, Xenia, Mushrooms 4x24w T5HO, HOB 4gal fuge (chaeto) and Skimmer

10/27/2008, 04:54 PM	#9
Zimster Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Maple Grove, MN Posts: 86	You can have 10000K's....the PAR will be more....the corals will grow faster with just 10000K but they will mostly be brown in appearance. Your tank will have a more yellow tint to it. Corals utilize blue light (440nm-520nm) better than any other wavelengths for producing its energy. When more blue light is used, the corals will seem to appear more fluorescent and colorful. It all depends on if you want your corals to grow fast or if you want your tank to look good. here's a great thread about photosynthesis, coral, and light: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1496092