Another stupid lighting question

[pdwire]

I am setting up a 55AGA FOwLR. I have 40# of LR arriving tomorrow and 40# of base rock in the tank. The LR will have lots of creatures and coralline algae (I hope) and I was wondering what lighting would be required to keep the majority of the interesting inhabitants of the LR alive. I currently have the two 24" Perfecto hoods with 2 lights (1 each) and 15W ballasts with 15W Coralife 50/50s. My plan was to put 4 40watt ballasts with some sort of NO lighting (maybe 50/50s again). Will this be enough to keep the coralline alive and let it propagate over to the base rock? Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

[loganj]

Yes, that should do the job. You won't be able to keep any inverts that have high light requirements, but you should be able to keep some of the low light critters. I'd probably go with two 6500-10000k bulbs and two actinics. I'd also look for electronic ballasts. You might, and I'd get some more opinions on this, use the Sylvania electronics from Lowes that are designed to run two 8' 59w bulbs. That should overdrive the bulbs enough to get really good output from them, but it might be too much.
Logan J

 

[pdwire]

Thanx for the help loganj but I have another question. My hoods only accomodate 18" tubes. In looking around on web the max wattage you can get from a 18" tube is 15W. If this is correct my plan for 4x40w wont' work. Am I missing something? I realize trying to accomplish this with a cheap set of hoods and lighting system but would like to keep things alive until the cash flow improves for an upgrade of the lighting system.

 

[fishfreek]

Cheap = DIY

U want something that can fit a 40W bulb then you will need to build your own. Its not near as hard as one would imagen. Think of a box with no bottom and put a door in there to access the tank and you got yourself a canopy. Then wire up the endcaps and ballasts and your ready to go.

 

[loganj]

You can either cut it from plywood or use some 1" lumber like 1x6's or 1x8's. If you don't want a full canopy, you could make it to cover part of the tank...similar to your current hoods. You aren't going to grow any coraline with 15w bulbs on that size tank I don't believe. IMO, the absolute minimum would be two 40w tubes with 3 or 4 being much, much better. You can get magnetic ballasts at Home Depot or Lowes for about $15 a piece that will run two 40w bulbs. Unless you have some experience with eletricity, I strongly suggest getting some expert help or just having someone wire it for you. These ballasts will bite you very hard if you don't have them wired and grounded properly. Paint the inside of the canopy white to increase reflectivity. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to post them...the only stupid question is the one you don't ask .
Logan J

 

[pdwire]

OK let me think of this a different way since I just won $500 in a neighborhood raffle I now have been looking for a lighting system (hood with fixtures) to fit on my 55Gal AGA and seem to be having trouble finding something on the web. Can someone recommend a lighting system that will accomplish the above goals.
Thanx.

 

[mulron]

If you are not thinking corals or anything like that at all then.

IMHO

http://www.championlighting.com/e/e...ting.html?link=/Products/Lighting/vhoabs.html

Get 2 48" VHOs, 1 sun and 1 actinic for 395.00 That will be plenty o light for the FOwLR.