lightining

[kcarlson]

Can anyone tell me if this light will be fine for my new tank,I got it with the tank for free.It says CO ALIFE ACTINIC F40-T12 BP.
Plus I have 1 15watt all glass aquarium bulb.Is that all i need for a 55 gallon.Can i add more lighting;it has room for 1 more bulb.They are both 4 feet long

 

[DragonForce]

Do you want a reef system? or a fowlr system?

 

[kcarlson]

lighting

Whats a fowlr,im new to this stuff.

 

[UberNachtfalke]

Psst. Hover over the red link-looky things. They give acronyms and definitions.

 

[kcarlson]

LIGHT

A few fish ,live rock,and some reef.Is that light ok.

 

[cowman345]

You might be able to support some 'shrooms, and maybe some brown colony polyps, but that's about it as far as corals go with this little light. I'd reccomend at least 9 watts per gallon if you want any other corals, or even more if you want to grow LPS or SPS (which are more advanced all around).

I had 2 175W metal halides and 2 40W actinic over a 55gal reef and I decided I could really use more light (430W was not enough).

Keep in mind, fish and live rock don't neccessarily need a ton of light, just most corals.

-dave-

 

[kcarlson]

Thanks for the info.Anyone else with comments.

 

[theatrus]

Sounds like a standard NO (Normal Output) bulb. Good for mushrooms, but no other corals. For corals look into a 4x65W Compact Fluorescent (CF, sometimes called Power Compact - PC) system, or a 2 x 110W VHO system at the minimum.

 

[kcarlson]

OK.Theatrus what r u running for lights.So i can get an idea.What does 4x mean?4 feet long or 4 bulbs.Whats the difference between 96 actinic,4x 65 power compact,175 watt metal halides.Are they all different.

I can put 3 4 feet long lights.what do you or anyone else recommened for the 3 lights.

55 gallon tank a little coral,rock,fish,in the works

 

[theatrus]

4x means 4 of a certain bulb. I'm running 4x 65W (half 10k, half actinic) + 2x 96W (2 50/50 bulbs) on a 55gallon. Going to replace the 4x65W fixture with 2 250W metal halides. Note that wattages aren't equivilent between fluorescents and metal halides (MH being brighter).

Actinic refers to a purple/bluish bulb which can cause certain fish and corals to fluoresce. Its a very nice effect. If you wish to run normal output fluorescents (the 40W 4' tubes) I'd recommened an even mix of actinic and 10000K (refers to the color temperature, 10k being a 'crisp' white). If you have a capable fixture, VHO gets you a lot more light (being a 110W 4' tube), but requires special equipment. I wouldn't run 96W CF bulbs on a 55gallon tank. The bulbs are 36" long, which doesn't cover the 48" tank very well. 65W bulbs are 24" long and you can easily fit 4 of them over a tank. Note that CF bulbs also require their own special fxture. You can't plug different kinds of fluorescents into another fixture and expect it to work.

There is a third class of lighting called T-5, which is also a fluorescent setup. Never tried it myself, but may be worth looking into.

Metal halides are a totaly different class of lighting than fluorescents. Instead of a long tube of phosphors, they are a smaller (and more expensive, bulbs run $65-$100 each) more pinpoint source of light. Expensive, run hot, but more or less required for some difficult to keep corals/clams/etc. Plus you get an awesome water shimmer effect.

My suggestion if you wish to keep corals, is a fixture resembling one of these:


PC lights:
http://hellolights.com/484xcoraqpch.html

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium...current-usa_orbit_sunpaq_fixtures.asp?CartId=

T5 lights:
http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_lighting_fluorescent_geisemann_basic_t5_60_system.asp?CartId=

Metal Halide:
http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium...usa_outer_orbit_hqi_actinic_lunar.asp?CartId=



If you don't want to shell out the cash yet, literaly any lighting source will work for fish only. If you have a single strip light that can cover the aquarium, slap a bulb in it. Its not worth putting multiple Normal fluorescent fixtures over a tank as you'll be wasting money.

 

[kcarlson]

THANKS