NO Lighting question

[Peeley]

Alright, here's the deal:
I live in an apartment with 2 roommates and we split the electric bill ...
With little light (one 40w NO on 8 hrs) the other parts of my tank still make a noticeable impact on said bill. So things like MH and high wattage in general are out of the question.
I want to get some low-light corals, and was thinking about this setup:
Two twin bulb 48" light strips from Lowe's with some combo of 40w NO bulbs.
First problem I see is the lack of endcaps (i guess i can buy them somewhere), anything else wrong with this idea?

 

[fishfreek]

the other parts of my tank still make a noticeable impact on said bill.

What parts? Unless your cost per kilowatt is something outragious there should be at the most only a few dollar increase per month.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/calcs2.php?type=electric

Use the above calc to figure up truly how much your tank is costing per month.

 

[Peeley]

well...
i have a 55 gallon fresh tank with 2 24" NO lights and a power filter,
and my 50 gallon saltwater has three ph's ( 2x 350 gph and one in the skimmer), one 48" bulb, a heater, and theres so many plugs down there i must be forgetting something...
and my 10 gallon fresh has a i think 32w bulb thats super bright (some kind of twisted up compact flourescent from wal-mart) and the filter on it is a power filter rated for a 50 gallon tank ( i had it lying around ... )
anyway, thats what i meant ...

 

[loganj]

Just a guess...not counting the heaters because they aren't on all the time, you're using about 250w of power so far. The lighting system you outlined will add 160w or so. If you set up a 4x65w PC or a 4x54w T-5 system, it really wouldn't add that much to the watts used. And, you'd have a much better lighting system to keep soft corals under. Perhaps the roomies would agree to you paying a $10 or so a month extra on the power bill to cover the tanks? Of course, it stands to reason that if they are enjoying the tanks and you're putting up all the $$ to set them up and maintain them, the least they could do is chip in a little on the power. JMHO.

 

[yaksplat]

I think he wants to know what type of corals he can get with his current setup.

Jim

 

[Peeley]

Thanks for the advice!
Sorry there was some confusion about my question, i basically wanted to make sure there were no "holy cow dont do that!"s about my plan
but since you bring it up :
where can i find endcaps?
which corals can live a happy life under 4 40w bulbs?

 

[loganj]

You'll want to use VHO type endcaps. I don't have them on my site yet, but you might check with Darin at Captivereefs (sponsor on this site). If he doesn't have them, go to www.championlighting.com . I know they have them. These are either two or three piece endcaps that are watertight and will, if installed properly, keep your bulbs from corroding. As for corals...mushrooms, colt, finger leather, star polyps, and possibly some zoanthids. I'd put the zoos close to the surface though. Check out www.garf.org for some pics and ideas for tanks with NO lighting. I still think you'd be better off to use PC's though...not a lot of cost difference either on the front side or long term. JMHO.