55 Gallon Tall Lighting Recommendations

[tecknoboy]

I have 55 Gallon Tall (L36 x W15 x H24) tank and looking into purchasing some lighting. I am leaning towards the Power Compact Retro Kits by Coralife Aqualight which is 36 inches and comes with 1 - 96 watt 10,000k and 1 - 96 watt true actnic 03 blue. Since my take is kinda tall, will this be enough lighting? I am not quite sure if this the one to get. I am going with live rocks, corals, fishes. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[mp3z24]

that doesnt sound like enough light for a 55 gallon tank if you are planning corals... it is only ~ 3.5 wpg. for sps and lps corals you will probably have to look into a lighting system with a mh spotlight and pc actinics.

i think coralife has a setup that will work...
http://www.esuweb.com/cardfile.asp?ItemNumber=56005&IDProductRelationship=307

~mike

 

[RLG2182]

WPG is a questionable measure of light intensity. If you had one of those tall 120 gal tanks that are 3 feet tall, you'd certainly need more lights than a short and stubby 120 tank due to the lack of light penetration.

55 gal tanks are way taller than my 60, but you'd need more light than me to light the same corals, depending on the placement of the corals from the sand bed to the top-most rocks. Since that thing is nearly 2 feet tall, I would go with with something a bit more substantial than what you listed (more wattage).

What kind of corals do you want to keep? That would determine which lights to get. Budget? If you could afford MH, I would go that route so you wouldn't have to upgrade later when you want to progress to harder corals that are more light demanding.

HTH, let us know.

 

[captivereefs]

the tank is only 24" tall so for most softies and LPS you will be fine with 2-96 PC'S. No SPS or clams though!