55 Gal FOWLR Lighting

[55GallonFOWLR]

Hello All,

I am in the process of setting up a 55 gal FOWLR.
Setup will be as follows:
Sand/LR (35lbs)
Emperor 400 (may add Skimmer Bak-Pak if needed)
Tunze 6025 (or other comparable ph. feel free to suggest something cheaper 8O )

Questions:
1. Is this enough equipment if I follow the basics (ie. not too many fish; pwc, use purified water on pwc, etc)....

2. What lighting do you suggest if I know I will not be converting to Reef down the road. The tank came with a Coralife 50/50 which is described as 50% 6000 Kelvin natural daylight and 50% blue actinic 03 phosphors. Will this suffice? I have heard algae horror storries and would really like to avoid any problems.

Thanks to anyone who has input.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Hey 55Gallon, welcome to AA

1. Sounds good to me. If you know you want to make the tank into a reef later down the road you will want to pick up the skimmer in my opinion. That ph sounds good, but those Tunze pumps are expensive. You can get away with some strong Aquaclear, Seio, or Maxijet powerheads as well.

2. The 50/50 sounds good to me. What wattage is it, if you know? That will make the difference in what kind of corals you can keep. Algae doens't really care about the light, in a sense. Having 50/50 lights will not feed algae. MH lights are stronger and may help fuel algae a little bit more.

HTH

 

[Steven Pro]

I would skip the Emperor. It is unnecessary with enough liverock.

The Tunze pumps are fabulous! I would get one or two of the 6025's.

For a skimmer, the CPR Bak-Pak is ok but an Aqua-C Remora would be a better choice.

 

[melosu58]

I would skip the Emperor. It is unnecessary with enough liverock.

I agree skip the filter and go LR and a skimmer. That`s the way I went on my 55 many years ago. I still have LR and a skimmer but added a refuge when I went to my 125.

 

[bavass]

48" ORBIT 4X65W SUNPAQ W/LUNAR & FAN is a great light for a 55 gallon!

 

[Tomd]

PC will do if that is all you can get, however for the cost, I would go with T5 HO or VHO. T5 with individual reflectors provide awesome light that will not limit you down the road.

IMO, PC is not the best quality. PC bulbs also need to be replaced every 6 months while HO and VHO last much longer and have better intensity.

I have many articles analyzing and showing how much more light T5 provides, and then how much more it gets with reflectors.

Just my 2. It will save you in the end from lamp costs and upgrades

 

[melosu58]

PC bulbs also need to be replaced every 6 months while HO and VHO last much longer and have better intensity.

It really depends on how much you use them. I run mine 12 hrs a day and change every 6 months. Someone who only uses 8 hrs a day would get a few more months out of them. I agree about the intensity esp. if you use the URI bulbs which have an internal reflector so to not lose as much light.

 

[Tomd]

Yes sir good point. I just think from experience you get a lot more bang for your buck with T5 or VHO.

I have kept SPS and clams under T5 with no issues at all.

 

[melosu58]

T5`s are good and I believe better than VHO`s. But I love my VHO setup

 

[Tomd]

VHO's are nice, and much more efficient than PC for sure.

I woudl rank light in order as MH>T5>VHO>PC>NO the first 3 being the best option. A common misconception is that the first 3 are more expensive, however that is not always the case with smart shopping.

 

[melosu58]

I woudl rank light in order as MH>T5>VHO>PC>NO the first 3 being the best option.