Lighting question.... - How much light is really needed?

T

trey85stang

[I have a 72g tank, and eventually I would like to have some corals and other things besides a few fish and live rock...

My questions is.. How much light is really nessacary?? Currently (and for a long while) I have 4x65 (280watts) is this suffecient? or do I need more :confused:

If I would of known from the beginning how much light I needed (which I still dont really know) I would of bought what I needed to begin with, but so far I have spent over $500 in lights that have not been even close to enough imo :eek:


Thanks]
 
[Hi Trey,
It really depends on what type of coarls your going to keep. But Id say that what you have is plenty for most types of corals barring most sps and some clams. I was in the same boat as you when I started not too long ago. I bought 260W PC also and when I upgraded to my 100 gal I sold them and bought PC's again. Then I ran into a great deal on some 175W MH and bought them.I was Forced to build a canopy for the 100 to house them , so I retro- fitted my PC's that I just had bought into the canopy - ended up costing me around $460 for the PC's and the MH so i didnt feel that was so bad becuase there was no way i could buy a 60" hood that cheap w/ that installed.

If your looking for all around Compatability I strongly urge MH. But if you are satisfied w/ what you have then there is no reason to change. GARF doesnt use MH ( as the Rev pointed out ) and they grow SPS just fine and they have awesome looking tanks! Again if your going Lps and softies youll be just fine, they even have clams that flourish under PC's. I just did the MH becuase I love the look of the water when they are on. The shimmer lines in the sand and the growth you get out of MH are unmatched. After I switched to MH from PC my candy cane grew 4 heads in 2 weeks, my frogspawn split 2 new heads and now I have SPS that im trying.]
 
[thats good to hear Maldivan, I just built my own fixture and ballast box....175w mh....I only have about 55w on a 30g tall...right now...waiting on my bulb....altogeather it cost be about $125.00 to build...thrifty shopping was the key...got my bare ballast for $35.oo shipped....and my bulb for $30.oo shipped...the rest was enginuity....

:eyebrows:]
 
[Your current lighting is fine for a lot of corals. Just research before you buy and try to avoid impulse buys]
 
@mwolek wrote:
[Your current lighting is fine for a lot of corals. Just research before you buy and try to avoid impulse buys] said:
[I've learned my lesson on impulse buys already ;)

Everyone thanks for the info, I am going to stick with the lights I have currently. I actually just purchased this set today and I really like the quality...

if anyone cares to know, they are Coralife Lunar Aqualights 48",,, The lights previously were a brand that petsmart carried that housed 3 40watt bulbs (this was an impulse buy) which after reading I knew I would not be able have corals under.

Thanks for all the info!!]
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top