help with lighting

[craig_will2513]

iam after some help with lighting. what would be best for corals and nems.. is the t5 ok and iv seen t8 and metal halide and i have no idea what this is can someone please explaine many tanks peeps

 

[carey]

How big is your tank and how long has it been running? What lights do you currently have on it now?

 

[craig_will2513]

at the min i have a 13 g reef tank no idea wht the lights are but iam upgrading and want to know about lights

 

[carey]

Well depending on what size tank you are going to it kinda matters. In my opinion, T5 lights are the way to go unless you have a really really deep tank, then a MH light might be better.

To keep an anenome it requires pristine water in a mature tank and excellent lighting. Again, depending on the size of the tank, either 4 or 6 t5 bulbs would be sufficient.

 

[craig_will2513]

brilliant thanks very much.. so t5 is the way ahead.. but they are all different levels and watts and stuff. is it just a case of the hight the better

 

[carey]

Its based on size. For instance a 48" bulb is 54 watts. thats the size usually on 55g and 75g tanks. My 36" t5's are only 39w I believe. But it all balances out.

What size tank did you have in mind or don't you know yet?

 

[craig_will2513]

thank you very much. well iam not to sure yet i have a gap of 4.5ft i want to fill with a new tank so it just a case of looking about so what light set up would you recomend fo a tank that size.. i mainly want corlas news and some fish

 

[carey]

That sounds like a perfect place for a 75g tank. It's only 4 feet in length and 18 inches from wall to front. Its much better than a 55 which is only 12 inches back to front. More possiblities for rockscaping and more corals.

For a 75g I wouldnt' go less than a 4 bulb T5 fixture. If you could afford it I would go with the 6 bulb one. They will be 54w each. And the good hi end bulbs are only like $23 a piece. Some fixtures come with bulbs some don't.

 

[craig_will2513]

18in from wall to front... is that how wide the tank is.. the width

 

[craig_will2513]

also sya foe example my tank is 4.5ft and the light unit is only 3ft will this matter. ie the tank is longer than the light unit.. so the longer the tube the more power it has what kelvin range iam so confussed and watts. help please

 

[carey]

If you get a 75 it will be 4 feet long, and 18 inches from the back of the tank to the front of the tank. It is I think 21" deep, from top to bottom.

You would want a 4ft fixture on a 4ft tank, if you go smaller you will have a dark spot on either end of your tank.

The spectrum depends on what you like. I have 2 whites ( 12000k) and 2 blues on my 48" fixture. The higher the number the bluer it gets. I tend to like a blue-ish hued tank myself. they make purple bulbs too that you can mix in and get a different hue.

My 125g has 6 10000k bulbs and 6 blue bulbs. I find the color to be too "white" for me.

 

[Gti_Leo]

kelvin rating is the color temperature of the lamps, it has a light effect on the brightness, but we don't worry about that. as for the wattage the longer the T5 the higher the wattage. all T5s will give you the sam light output in a messured area, IE. in a 6" length of a 24" and a 48" lamp they will both put out roughtly the same light output.

as for putting a 3ft ligth on a 4ft tank , you will be loosing out on a foot of aquarium for higher light corals, it will still get lite up but not well