I think I might go "reef" with low lights

[blazeyreef]

Well with not being able to have my planted aquariums, I think I am going to have to refer to a "reef" in a sence. I think I will have things like shrooms, trumpet corals, star polyps, zoo's, frogspawn, things like that in the new 75gall. My question is, is 3.5 wpg enough light for all those if they go torward the top of the aquarium? if anything I would like the trumpet, star polyps, and frogspawn. Thanks.

 

[melosu58]

Should be enough for most soft and LPS corals. Same thing I have as far as lighting. Might be a little more than I have. View my tank to see different corals I have that will do good in that range.

 

[artoledo]

Good luck on the new setup.

 

[seaham358]

what kind of lighting?

 

[blazeyreef]

4x65 pc is what I am planning on!

 

[tecwzrd]

WPG isn't always a very good rule.

Take your 75 which is only about 1/2" higher but is mostly wider (18.5" versus 12.5") then a 55 gal and you get about 3.5 WPG.

On a 55 gal same lighting would give you 4.7 WPG.

On a 60 gal hex (27 1/4 x 24 1/8 x 29 1/2) it would give you 4.3 GPH but due to the height of a 60 hex would only give the corals about 1/2 the light of the 55 gal.

Point is depth of the tank is the biggest factor and 260 lighting on a 75 gal is nearly identical to a 55 gal which is adequate for the corals you want to house.

 

[blazeyreef]

so thats a confuseing way to say they are good? :?
thanks everyone!

 

[JM]

You'll be able to get away with most LPS and all polyps and shrooms. T5s are better than PCs because they are more intense and get better water penetration, so if u can get a T5 fixture for around the same price i would go with them. Also they last longer, bulbs can be changed yearly instead of every 6 months like PCs so any price difference in the fixtures evens out over time because of bulb replacement. Either way u'll have enough light, good luck.

 

[Phyl]

I ran a 120 (2' depth) with PC lighting very successfully with LPS, Shrooms & Zoos. I even kept some monti cap in there that did very well high up in the tank. I'm running the same fixture on my 65 now.

 

[macman7010]

I agree with techwzrd, wpg is not a good rule of thumb for keeping reef aquariums. For example if I have 5 watts per gallon of intense 20,000k halide light that is going to be different then 5 wpg of VHO or T5 lighting.

The depth and size of the aquarium should be taken into account when deciding how much light you need. I have on my aquarium, 3.8 watts per gallon. I have been keeping for several years now LPS, Soft Corals, and Clams. While many would argue that 3.8 wpg on my aquarium would not keep clams it does mainly because it is very intense metal halide lighting.

All in all the lighting you are proposing for your tank will work just fine. Although when people are shooting for a low wpg amount I always recommend halide lighting since it will allow you to maintain lower watts per gallon but still keep some of the more light demanding animals.

 

[ellisz]

I ran a 4x55 on my 75 to start with. I have quite a few LPS and even a brain that was on the sand. You could do some digitata too if you want some SPS.

I say go for it. You will probably want bigger lights in a year or so though. If you get the Acro/clam bug like I did