Lighting Problems....

[TeenReefer]

Right now I have a 24 inch 20 watt coralife 10,000 K bulb on my marine aquarium. I have been recently adding some live rock and realize that 20 watts is not enough to support the life on them, and thus my life on the live rocks dies. I have been looking on petsolutions.com for a better bulb, and the only one i can find is a 75 watt coralife blue actinic bulb that will fit my sinble bulb hood. Will this work? and if so do i need a blue actinic bulb or a white one? any other suggestions?

Thanks! Cam

 

[theatrus]

You need a new fixture to change the wattage/size of the bulb. With fluorescent lights, the bulb and the ballast in the fixture need to be matched.

Coraline algae will probably need a bit more light... so I assume you're placing the LR in the tank more for looks than filtering ability? (LR stored in a dark box has the same filtering ability as lit LR )

I'm not sure what the minimum amount of light coraline needs is... I tend to overlight (building a hood for my 2x250W Metal halide retrofit this coming week). 29gallon is also a weirder size at 30" long. I'm not sure what fixture to suggest as a replacement.

 

[morgan24]

if your willing to spend couple hundred bucks i would go with a coralife power compact
they make a great 30 inch light. I can't remember if its 130watts or a single 96 watt bulb but they are great lights. That way if you want to go with some soft corals you will have enough light to support them. if you want pm me and i will try to find a good deal on one for you..

 

[morgan24]

update... i can get you a coralife 130 watt 30 inch for 129 bucks plus shipping,, not a bad price

 

[TeenReefer]

thanks, but i can only use the hood i have right now, dont have enough money as a student to purchase a new hood. I either have to get a 75 watt - - "Coralife Super Actinic Bulbs 100% solid blue spectrum to resemble blue chlorophyll absorption peak utilized in photosynthesis." or the "Coralife White Actinic Bulbs Combination 50% 7100K Actinic 03 and 50% 6000K natural daylight spectrum bulb." Bulbs are 24 inches. Which one should i get?????

Thanks, teenreefer

 

[TeenReefer]

also, do these bulbs need ballast caps? I just have a regular hood as a reminder.

 

[Hara]

there is probably a label on the inside of the lighting fixture that will tell you what the maximum amount of wattage the unit can handle. I would suggest checking that out before spending the money. Coraline can live under normal output lighting. What "life" is dieing on your rock?

 

[TeenReefer]

20 watts. Im already maxed out! 8O I might just purchase a 30" satalite that has a 65 watt sunpaq light and a blue antic lamp light included. I noticed it said these lights were japanese square pin lights? What are they? and will this setup work for me? fixtue demensions are 25" x 5.5" x 2.75 in high, im assuming this is the light fixture itself and not the unit, which is said to be 30".
Thanks for listening to and answering all my questions! Cam

 

[Hara]

One thing you need to decide is what you want to put in the tank. That will determine the amount of lighting you need. If you are not going to have corals or anemone, stock lighting that came with the tank will do just fine.

 

[TeenReefer]

Originally I did have a feather duster and a small colony of brown polyps in the tank, but the 20 watts of lighting was not enough to keep them alive. I would just like to be able to keep a few hardy corals like mushrooms and a few zoos/polyps, and maybe a feather duster again. Heres the link to the light im proposing to purchase-- http://www.thatpetplace.com/Product...es/T1/F38AA+0434+0051/EDP/44116/Itemdy00.aspx

Thanks, Cam

 

[Hara]

The feather duster did not die from lack of lighting, they are filter feeders and do not require any special amount of light to thrive. They are sensitive to water quality and water chemistry changes. That light in the link should do ok for low light things such as mushrooms.

 

[TeenReefer]

Thanks, Hopefully a new light will help improve the life in my aquarium! I am still wondering what is the difference between square pin lights and regular ones like on the coralife lights?