New set-up help??

[mfed]

I currently have an all-glass 55 gal tank...its depth is 20"...with the two inches of liverock, water depth ends up at about 18"

I have a 4-65 watt pc right now...is that amount of lighting suitable for high light corals?? I realize that i should shoot for 8 watts/gal for them but with the more shallow water depth, is the 260 total watts enough??

"Tanks" alot
Mike

I figure Ill just list what i have so far and im of course open to suggestions...

55 gallon tank
Emperor 400 Biowheel Filter
200 watt submersible heater
270gph powersweep powerhead
4 65watt pc lighting hood
80 lbs seaflor special grade reef sand
red sea prizm deluxe hand on skimmer

will get...
20lbs live rock
35 lbs foundation baserock
45 lbs select fiji premium liverock

 

[tecwzrd]

I have the same lighting and tank and would stick to low to medium light corals personally with that lighting. High light corals need high light in the form of vho or mh of 500+ watts for our tanks. IMO 260w pc doesn’t cut it no matter how high you place them.

Some have limited success with high light corals with 4-5 wpg but in the long run the corals will suffer.

 

[jackm]

lighting

Hi all
Just wondering if two very high output lights (1 marine blue actinic, 1 marine white lamp ) would be strong enough for some nice corals (sorrry for the vague descriptions but i really have no ideas what i want to keep yet) in a 25 us gallon tank? also are these lights ok for most beginner fish?
thanks a lot for the help
jack

 

[hackteck]

fish dont really need light

 

[tecwzrd]

That’s too vague to be helpful. A lot of people confuse the Kelvin rating ie: 10K or 14K lights with “high lighting” or intensity of light and that is just the spectrum/color so in order for us to properly answer the question you need to provide wattage and type of light ie: VHO/PC/MH. liveaquaria.com goes into more detail on the different types of lighting available.

Also IMO I think a proper lighting schedule of at least 4-6 hours is needed to create a good sleeping schedule for the fish. Most keep lights on from 10-12 hours a day ie: 9am-9pm unless battling an algae breakout with a reduced lighting schedule.

 

[jackm]

Sorry guys
blue is 18 watts and white is 20 watts im not really sure what is meant by type of light so would iit be ok for me to post the link and you guys have a look http://www.thegoldfishbowl.co.uk/lighting_arcadia.html
The two i am looking at are the bottom two (Marine Blue Actinic and Marine White lamp Superb light output) thanks a lot for this advise as i have sooo many questions i need asking.
jack

 

[tecwzrd]

Those lights are considered normal output lights and are fine for fish only tanks but I wouldn’t put any corals in using those lights.

PC or MH lights would be better suited for keeping corals which would cost anywhere from $80-$250 for a tank that size.

For additional questions it would probably be better to start a new thread topic.

 

[lando]

Lighting is a very subjective topic. It is best to list what actual species of corals you wish to keep and then build a lighting system around those. A 4x65watt CF fixture on a 55gal tank will allow you to keep a very nice variety of corals, softies, leathers, and LPS, but not "high light" corals.