General Reef Lighting

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ScubaBaker

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
53
Location
Hagerstown,Maryland
Hi All,

hi i have a question about Reef Lighting. i currently have a 55 Gallon SW set-up. and for lighting i have a 48inch 4x96 watt orbit pc light with 4 moon lights
i have got my eye on a 120 gallon tank. and i wanted to know if my current lighting would be good enough for my new tank.

also i was going to place my 55 gallon under my new 120 gallon for a refuge. would that be a wise choice or should i go with a smaller refuge.

thanks
 
It depends... "good enough" for what? 3.2 WPG would get you into softies & low light corals. (assuming the tank is 4x2x2)

What kind of corals do you want?

A 55 gal fuge would be GREAT! :D Just as long as you can fit it in the stand, you'd be fine. The bigger, the marrier. Just make sure you have the funds for extra heating and salt.
 
like RLG said it just all depends on what your going to have in your "reef". If your looking for clams or anything like that definitly it wont be enough light. You will most likely have to buy more LR and DSB. There is alot more expense in a larger tank. If your doing just fish, and just refered to the tank as a reef then that lighting will be fine.
 
no wanted a full reef tank. ok so lets say i get a 90 gallon would that be ok for most corals?
i might not get no tank and just keep the one i got now. but i have had this tank for 2 years and was looking to up grade. any suggestion?
 
You can upgrade but you will have to upgrade everything else along with it. Lights, LR, sand, pumps, and skimmer. Unless your skimmer is rated for that large of a tank. Most corals will not survive with those lights and you would have to upgrade. You can have mushrooms and other low light corals and that would be about it for the most part, or corals that dont require photo for life. HTH
 
some one on here told me that a 4x96 watt on a 55 would be great for any coral i wanted maybe some clams too. that almost 7watts per gallon. what should i have?
 
That sounds like it would okay for soft corals, leathers, mushrooms, but its important to know that watts per gallon is not a good way of looking at how much lighting you have. You can have less wattage, but if the lighting you have has a strong intensity level then you would be fine.

If you want clams Metal Halide is the only way to go.
 
skennelly said:
If you want clams Metal Halide is the only way to go.

This isn't necessarily correct. There are certain species of clams that will live perfectly ok under the proper lighting of PC/VHO. Most clams will need MH... not all of them. Others will chime in with exact species names phylums genus (random sciencetific stuff) :lol:
 
Desera clams maybe alright but i wouldnt recommend maximas. PC's are awesome lights for low to mid lighting needs but i wouldnt recommend anything that require intense lighting. MH get there power from the wattage yes thats true.....but its the concentration of light from a single point, that make them best. You can have clams with your PC but i wouldnt put them on the sandbed. I would put them up on the rock mid to higher level.
 
4x96 on a 55gal is plenty of light for most anything you would like to keep. I think you would be able to keep even maxima and crocea clams with that light. A 90gal is a different story. They are pertty deep and MH would give you the best pentrating power for that depth.
 
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