Could i use this light for a reef tank?

C

ChuKronos

[I just purchased a 90g Oceanic rr. I saw this light on ebay: The light
I am not sure if I could use it. The description says that it would be good for a marine tank, but I am new to the hobby and a little wary. I know I am going to need at least 270 watts for the tank, but I don't know if this particular light would be a good idea or not. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks.
-Chuck]
 
[It looks to me like your getting a 65 watt power compact bulb and him saying it is like 500 watts. Another you get what you pay for. Go to one of the reputable and well known aquarium light sellers and buy a good light. You can use power compacts, vho's, metal halides, or even just plain normal output flourescents, depending on what you want to keep.]
 
[it's a rip-off...

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[Is there such a thing as an underwater light meter, like the kind I used to use in my photography class? Aka something that can measure lumens, or kelvins?]
 
[you can get an underwater par meter for measuring how much light is getting down to your corals. I think someone in the club has one.]
 
[Chuck, Forget the watts per gallon-it really is next to meaningless when dealing with reef tanks. What you need to do is decide what you want to keep first, then select suitable lighting. I recently upgraded my lighting and bought from this company on ebay. They have good prices on the retrokits which are very easy to install. The 175 or 250w halides would enable you to keep just about anything you want in a reef, including sps and clams. Link]



Edited By OodleyBoodely on 1116525753
 
[I really appreciate the response. I will definitely not purchase this light. I didn't realize that the watts per gallon is meaningless. You may be saving me from making a mistake on picking the lighting. I need to search the forums for information on lighting and what I will need. Thanks a lot for the info!
-Chuck]
 
[
I didn't realize that the watts per gallon is meaningless. said:
Wait! I think that members statement may be more a matter of opinion. When I first started a reef aquarium, most the books I read and sites I visited all stated a minimum watts per gallon for soft and hard corals, so I do not think it is meaningless. Since I knew nothing of this or the other reef forums, WPG was a good guide for me when I started!

This link shows the minimum wattage per gallon for both flouresant and MH lighting for each coral species, recommended by one (or several) reefkeepers.
Link]
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[Mike, that is an older FAQ, and it really is true that WPG is inaccurate. Basically, if you have a 10g tank and 100w bulb over it, you have 10w per gallon, right? Will the lighting be just as intense in the lower gallon of water (bottom 1" of the tank) as it will at the upper gallon of water (top 1" of the tank)?

Thus, we always ask what type of livestock the person wants to keep, the size and particularly the height of their tank, and then we can make suggestions of lighting that has proven to work with multiple tanks.]
 
[The problem is that for many many many years people have identified the lighting power of bulbs by the power it consumes. Watts are a measurement of electrical power consumption and don't necessarily have anything to do with the light output. The important measurements are the intensity and the spectrum of the light not the power it consumes.]
 
[@terry wrote:
The problem is that for many many many years people have identified the lighting power of bulbs by the power it consumes. Watts are a measurement of electrical power consumption and don't necessarily have anything to do with the light output. The important measurements are the intensity and the spectrum of the light not the power it consumes. said:
This seems acurate to me. In photography we don't measure the lighting cast onto a subject by the watt's of the flash bulb, but rather by the tempurature of the light in lumens(aka based on a candles) or temperature (aka Kelvins).

I don't suppose you could measure a Kelvins per Gallon either, but you might possibly be able to measure a kelvins per depth. Aka if you have a 10,000K light source and N inches depth of water, each inch further away would be ploted on a curve graph becoming less intense the greater the depth.

So you see, Watt's per gallon is illogical unless you can prove that your light illuminates every gallon of water equally. :smart:]
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[Those lights are a joke. I bought one for growing orchids from home depot for like $30. With my light meter its less than 500 foot candles at about 1 ft away. Imagine what that would be through water. I currently have the lowest light orchids there are under it and it's really not enough for even them.

Angela]
 
[I actually bought one of those years ago and used it for a refugium light. It worked ok to grow macro and mushrooms in a shallow tank. When the lamp burnt out, I couldn't find a replacement, so, that was that.]
 
[Would a PC light be powerful enough for a 22"-24" depth? I would like to keep soft corals for now and someday move to adding a clam, anemone and a bubble tip coral like the one I saw in Marc's reef. I have read that PC lights lose lumens pretty quickly as the depth increases. But, if I put low light requiring corals on the bottom and higher light requiring corals on the top, would that be okay with a PC light?

Chuck]
 
[If you are using true PC bulbs, not the light fixture this thread is discussing, I would say yes. You would want a minimum of 110w over a 2' wide area, if not more. I had 165w over my 29g, and it was only 18" tall.

T5 bulbs would be another good choice, if you are staying in that particular bulb type, rather than the larger VHO or the hotter MH bulbs.]
 
[Thanks for the response. I was looking at a orbit or a jebo PC light with 260 watts. I thought that should be okay for now, and later I could add a couple of MH Lights. I am sure I will need everyone's knowledge for many questions to come. Thanks!
Chuck]
 
[How long is the tank? If the 260w is over 30" of width, it will be okay. However if it is over a 48" long tank, that means you only have 130w over each half. That would be quite a bit less light.]
 
[
Mike said:
I can understand this and have read the post below yours, but if the Watts per gallon is 'meaningless or inaccurate', the new reefkeeper has nothing to judge his light purchase requirements. Watts per gallon has been around for many year and at least with it you can purchase approximately the correct lights and move corals around to different levels in the tank for best growth.

I discovered this forum and Reef Central long after I set up the my tank. Many Web sites and books still use WPG. Seems to me to me it still has its place for the new reefer.]
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