Basic lighting question

[Guest]

The thread on lighting comparison is way too scientific and complicated for me. What lighting would you recommend for a reef and fish tank, only corals being soft, hardy mushrooms, leather, polyps?

It is a corner tank. I currently have a blue and white flourescent in the two-strip fixture and everything has always done well. I was thinking I might upgrade but don't want to get into halide, or anything else that throws off heat.

 

[saltcreep1025]

size of the tank?

 

[fishfreek]

Yes size of tank and its dimentions are very important.

Being that it a corner tank that makes it a bit harder to light due to its shape but still possible.

With out knowing more I would say that for what you describe being mushrooms and leathers and polyps that a muti bulb PC lighting setup would be fine for you. The number of bulbs and the wattage of those bubls will depend on the size of your tank and its measurements front to back and what it measures ast its widest.

 

[loganj]

Depending of course on the size of the tank, one of the PC quad fixtures might be something to look into. We can go into that further when you have the measurements.

 

[Guest]

Thanks!

Tank is 54gal, bowfront corner, by All Glass. The flat sides are 27 inches. Depth from light fixture to sand is about 21 inches.

It came with a two-strip flouresc fixture, with a thinner white bulb and a fatter blue bulb. Each bulb looks like 23 inches.

 

[loganj]

So that would make the front, from corner to corner, about 38"? You could probably put a 96w PC across the front and a pair of 65 watt PC's behind it. Or, you could maybe get a pair of 96w quads side by side...thinking that would be tight though.