Enough Lighting

[SharkMan]

I am looking into buying a 125 gallon tank and I was looking at the Orbit 72" 4x 96 watts compact florescent light. This would give me 3.072 watts per gallon, I am looking to have a FOWLR and a few soft corals, and an anemone or two. Do you think this lighting will do the job?

[john0087]

Assuming that your tank is about 20" tall, you should be able to keep a wide variety of corals under that lighting.

I have been able to keep LPS and soft corals under 65W lights with a tank that is 22" high. It also depends on where you place high light corals. The higher in the tank you can place them, the better off you will be.

I posted a similar question earlier. Here is the link.


http://www.aquariumadvise.com/viewto...3b68ff67ab2dca

[SharkMan]

Thanks that was helpful. John did you get the orbit 4x 96? if so do you have it resting on the tank or on the legs that come with it?

[lando]

While a bit on the low side you may have success with some softies and even LPS depending on placement. Anemones are out for the most part with that amount of light.

[SharkMan]

So for anemones I would need MH? they are like $900!!

[lando]

It really depends on the species. some anemones like the bubble tip will do just fine under CF lighting if it is enough. At 3watts/gal it really is not. Most anemones do require MH for the best long-term success, especailly if they prefer to dwell near the substrate.

[john0087]

Sharkman,

I am using the Coralife Lunar Pro fixture that has 4x65 PC that is sitting on 2" leggs. Even if you hang the fixture, you will probably still need at least 2" of space between the top of the tank and your fixture. I don't think that it would be a good idea to place a fixture directly on the tank.

Do you happen to know the dimensions of the tank? I saw a seaclear 125 that was 72"x18"x20, thats where I got the 20" high note. I really think that you would be ok for a lot of corals with the 96w PC lighting.

But yes, for an annenome, a MH would probably be better. If I am not mistaken, most annenome's do perfer to hang out near the substrate. The problem is that you can place the corals where you want them to be, but annenome's move about in the tank and you really want to make sure that there is enough light whever it may go.

HTH
John

[john0087]

Lando-

I thought that the 3wpg was only a general guideline and that you really needed to look at how well your lighting will penetrate into your tank...

[tecwzrd]

The wpg general rule can really get you into trouble if you do not take the tank height and the height you place the lights above the tank into consideration.

For example a 80 gal high tank which measures 48 7/8 x 14 x 30 ¾ with 4 PC 96W bulbs gives you 384 total watts or almost 5 wpg but considering that the lights are going to have to penetrate 30” (or greater if lights are placed 4+” above the tank) of water they would be somewhat inadequate for most corals that would usually thrive with 5 wpg (medium light). This same lighting on a 75 gal measuring 48 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 21 3/8 which is also about 5 wpg would be adequate for medium light corals because it’s less taller allowing the light to better penetrate to the bottom.

Some anemones are extremely light dependent and most require lighting closer to 6 wpg or greater to thrive. If you have a tank higher then 22” then MH lighting is almost a must since the light has to penetrate to deeper levels and they can and will move wherever they feel like to adjust to the lighting available.

Also make sure all PH in the tank are fully enclosed with a closely spaced screen or sponge to keep them from flying into them. They often just “let go” and float with the current which also usually plows them into the first PH they come in contact with