Lighting and temp questions

[stradt03]

I have a 150 standard and just got a 72" lighting fixture for it. The light has (3) 175watt 20K MH, and (2) 196watt blue actinic bulbs in it. The total watt count is 785, this put me at 5.23 watts/gallon. Is this sufficient lighting to house whatever softies/corrals I want?

Temp: Since I have put the new lighting in place the temp has gone from 79 to 83. At night the temp drops back down to 78ish, Is this too much of a temp swing? will it cause stress to future corrals/fish/anenomes?


thanks,

Jason

 

[TCTFish]

You have plenty of lighting for most coral. SPS coral would do much better with more intense lighting (7 to 9 watts per gallon). Softies, LPS and anemones would do fine.

Here's some information about temperature in the captive reef (closed system) vs a wild reef (open system). It should help you get an idea of how to approach the temperature issues of a captive reef.

http://tricitytropicals.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=1

 

[Macrosill]

I think 4 degrees over a couple hours every day is alot. You may need to run some fans to keep the temp at 79, assuming that is your target temp.

Brian