Lighting

[beancounter]

I am new to reef tanks...I've done the fish only thing, but now I am thrown into Lighting, lighting, and more lighting. All I hear is watts per gallon. More is better?? I am not sure. I have a power compact and regular Flo on my tank for 140 watts. I am told that it is still not enough to doing soft or hard corals. How much and what kind do I need?

 

[Gauge]

What's the size and type of your tank?

 

[beancounter]

55 gal. normal 48"x12"

 

[fishfreek]

So you have a 96W PC and a 40W NO bulb. Is the PC 10K and the NO Actinic? If so i think you have enough for most soft corals.

Hard corals are gonna want more light usually.

 

[beancounter]

my pc is 50/50, but I can change it out, do i even need an Actinic bulb?

 

[fishfreek]

if your going to keep corals its good to have an actinic bulb. actinic lighting can really enhance your fish's coloration aswell.

dont change it out till you need t replace them.

I replace my PC's every 9 months and NO's are recommended for 6 months replacment.

 

[Gauge]

NO's?

 

[d9hp]

Normal Output flourescent

 

[beancounter]

Do VHO's use the same fixture as NO lights?

 

[fishfreek]

VHO requires a special ballast. The bulbs appear like standard florecent tubes aside from the need for the special VHO ballast.

 

[beancounter]

Would it be worth the cost to move from the no to the vho?

 

[fishfreek]

Depends on what you want to keep. If all you wnat to keep is med-low light soft corals i feel you have ok lighting now for it as long as you select the location you put them in.

If you intend to go to more higher light needy corals than a VHO upgrade is not a bad idea.

 

[beancounter]

Thanks for all the help!!!