FOWL lighting?

[ozorowsky]

Hi all,

I will be getting corals eventually, but right now have 2 damsels, live rock and 12 little blue hermit crabs.

What lighting should I be running? My damsels seem to be getting happier by the day.

I am going to do soft corals sooner than later, but what kind of lighting should I do for now? I have the odyssea lighting that has the 4 blue actinics, a 250w metal halide, and the blue mood lighting. I can turn whatever ones I want on and off independently.

That said, which lights should I run for now and for how long each day?

Thank you.

[ccCapt]

An 8 hr/day light cycle is fine. Since you have no corals to worry about now, you can use whatever lighting you like best. I personally like a more natural "white" light looking tank so I wouldn't use 4 actinics, but it's a personal preference at this point. When you do move to corals I would replace 2 of the actinics with bulbs in the 10K range.

[slitherbomb]

You have that odyssea light fixture? If you do then you're set for corals and everything.

[ozorowsky]

Originally Posted by ccCapt

An 8 hr/day light cycle is fine. Since you have no corals to worry about now, you can use whatever lighting you like best. I personally like a more natural "white" light looking tank so I wouldn't use 4 actinics, but it's a personal preference at this point. When you do move to corals I would replace 2 of the actinics with bulbs in the 10K range.

Are 2 250 watt metal halides ok when I get some corals? I have 2 36" Odyssea fixtures.

Would I be ok to do an 8 hr actinic light then say 4 hr moonlight LED? for now and not use the metal halides at all?

[carey]

I run my whites from 10am to 8 pm. The blues go on first at 9am and are the last to go off at 9pm. The moonlights you can run untilo you go to bed I suppose, it doesnt matter too much.

[Ricksreef]

Originally Posted by ozorowsky

Bump up top. Please help.

How long should I run my Metal Halides, actinics, and lunar led's?

Should I start the day off with halides, then move to actinics then leds?

I had the same fixture on my 46 gallon.You can run the actinic's for 12 hours straight with the MH's on for 8 hours.I would turn the actinic's on two hours before the MH's and leave them on two hours after the MH's go off.The moonlights are just for your viewing benefit,they really don't matter as far as the fish and corals,I had mine just come on after all the other lights went out.
This time scheme worked good for me.

[ozorowsky]

Thanks guys,

This is exciting! I setup the lighting like you said, and its COOL. At "night" when lunar led's are on the damsels go into a little rock cave. During the "sunrise (actinics come on)" they start coming out and at sun up (halides turn on) all the fish are really active.

Loving it!

[ozorowsky]

Originally Posted by carey

I run my whites from 10am to 8 pm. The blues go on first at 9am and are the last to go off at 9pm. The moonlights you can run untilo you go to bed I suppose, it doesnt matter too much.

Hey Carey, one question on this:

How hard is it to replace the lunar LED's if/when they burn out? I'm fine with leaving them on all night as I know this is super low wattage, just worried about them burning out super fast

Speaking of wattage, should I see a huge increase in my electric bill by running 2 of these lights?

As a reminder this is the light I have:

Odyssea Metal Halide System

[slitherbomb]

You're running 812w of lighting for 10-12 hours a day, yes, your electric bill is going to go up by a significant amount lol

[mr_X]

just because you have a metal halide fixture, doesn't mean you'll be able to keep whatever you want. i once purchased a chinese built 250 watt halide fixture and put it over a 30 cube and the corals starved for light, no matter what lamp i used in it.
in some cases, those ballasts fire the lamps, but do not push them to capacity.
i would research these fixtures. see if anyone has used a PAR meter on them.
also, those odyssea fixtures have been known to burst into flames. i hope you have a good homeowners policy!

[slitherbomb]

Isn't everything Chinese made nowadays? Lol

But those stories of odyssea fixtures bursting into flames have no proof. People can say anything over the Internet. Also, those stories were from years ago, now odyssea fixtures use multiple power cords, instead of a single one.

[mr_X]

they use multiple power cords because people who buy these fixtures want that- not because it's safer.
it's not the lack of cords, it's the lack of quality control. i wouldn't buy anything that's not UL listed.
the reports of melted wires and such are not that old.

[ozorowsky]

Originally Posted by mr_X

they use multiple power cords because people who buy these fixtures want that- not because it's safer.
it's not the lack of cords, it's the lack of quality control. i wouldn't buy anything that's not UL listed.
the reports of melted wires and such are not that old.

The last reports I am able to find on these fixtures catching fire are in 2006.

They revised the fixture in 2008, again in 2010. I have their newest version.

I'm not overly worried about it catching fire; I have been monitoring them and with the built in fan, they don't get overly hot. Seem to be rock solid so far.

That said, I don't expect to be able to promote "any coral I want" but I should be able to run some soft corals which is what I'm looking for especially since I have enough live rock built up the top of the piled live rock is 12" below the surface.

At any rate, is it too early for me to add a soft coral of some type? I like the hammer corals and ones that look like anemones, nice flowing corals, not necessarily anemones.

Your guidance has gotten me this far, so I'm all ears to any tips.

Thanks as always.

[slitherbomb]

Well multiple power cords mean that all the wires are separated more and not as prone to melting or overheating. And as far as metal halide fixtures catching on fire and whatnot, the latest I can find on that was 2006. I did a lot of research when I wanted to buy one of these fixtures, but never bought one since I found a good t5ho setup.

[carey]

Hey I promised you a good picture of a flowy coral thats easy to keep. It's my torch and it's about doubled in size in about 3 months. No special feeding and I keep it on my sandbed.
Also shown is a hammer, a leather and a colt coral.

[ozorowsky]

VERRRRY NICE

Those are the corals I want to keep!!!

Are there benefits to having these? Do they clean the water?

What do they eat?

[carey]

I don't feed anything to my corals I just do weekly water changes. Most not all corals are photsynthetic so they get their nourishment from the actual lighting and from the water column.

I have had astounding growth with what i have so I don't plan on adding extra food to their diet as I am happy with them.

Some people do feed their corals though but thats another thread. LOL