lighting

[Fish_fanatic]

Ok I am just starting out with saltwater. I will be starting a 20 gallon high tank and I am completely lost when it comes to lighting. I want to have enough wattage that can pretty much support any live coral or plant. about how much wattage am i looking at?

Also should I be looking at fluorescent lights or incandescent lights? Any help would be appreciated

 

[seaham358]

PC lighting..... Power Compact would work fine, I'm not a lighting expert they say 4-6watts per gal if I remember right..... Someone will jump in soon if I'm way off.

 

[seafan]

Any coral hmm... That will cost alot (Metal Halide). If you want most corals, then go with PC it is alot cheaper. I'd say 2*65watt, or 2*96watt is good. Look at Coralife and Current USA fixtures.

 

[captivereefs]

You cannot go wrong with the coralife fixtures. I have had little to no complaints about them from customers. The current USA fixtures however have had more problems then the coralife. If you have any questions on the coralife fixtures please let me know!

 

[Fish_fanatic]

would 100 watts on my tank be enough for most corals?

 

[nodoubt471]

no SPS or LPS but softies would be fine as well as macro algae. if you wanted stony corals go with MH lighting, youll have the best results with them.

i have a current USA orbit 24" and its superb, ive never had a problem with it, but i have heard bad things about the satellite series. i also have a mini coralife unit that i have never had a problem with, i went with current USA b/c of the builtin moonlight fixture... superficial, i know but its really cool

just IME, IMO...

 

[captivereefs]

How long is the tank? And how deep?

 

[Fish_fanatic]

my tank dimensions are 24" long by 12.5" wide by 16.5" high.

What I was gonna do was put a sheet of glass on top of my tank and have 5 20 watt Power Compact Corallife bulbs for now. This I find is the cheapest way to do it and since i'm only starting out I figure it could work...am i wrong?

Now I dont think I will have any hard corals but could this light system support anenomies and mushrooms?? what about a clam?

Any help would be great thanks

 

[nodoubt471]

i would be careful with the glass, thats really going to inhibit oxygen transfer into the tank... maybe you should try eggcrate? i havent but ive heard good things about it...

 

[Salttanker]

Egg crate at Home Depot will better than the glass for sure.

Mike

 

[SaltySteve]

What is Egg Crate
****
Egg crate is what the industry uses to desribe those florecent light difusers that are composed of small 1" plastic squares.
****

Ahhh, never heard this term for it before

 

[captivereefs]

For a 24" long tank i would use a 2-65 watt coralife aqualight. That would be enough light for anything short of SPS an clams

 

[supafreak]

really? I have a hagan glass aquarium top, it has three panels, (120g tank) Is this not ok? I have a mangum, and two aquaclear 300 on the tank, and i have them sitting up a little to make as much breaking of the surface as possible. I also have 3 power heads, two at the bottom and one pointing up to ripple the surface. Is this going to be a problem? I have a glass top on my 33g marine tank, and havn't had any problems.

 

[supafreak]

oh ya, and what is egg crate?

 

[Salttanker]

Eggcrate is sold at home depot in the lighting section. It's like a gride with square holes to allow for air circulation. I got mine in a 2x4 section and use it rather than the glass. My PH is more stable now than it ever was before. I bought it for $12.00. Great investment.

Mike

 

[fishfreek]

suprafreek, maybe you didnt see saltysteves response at the top of this page. As he explains what egg crate is. You can find it at most home improvment stores. Where? Well seems like each store puts it in a different spot.

The suggestion about the glass top is because under higher output lighting the glass can really trap in the heat causing water temperature problems. The gas exchange is also limited as most people have the glass lids sealed fairly well and the net effect is reduced air flow in/out of the tank.

 

[supafreak]

ok, just want to make sure i understand, and this will be revelent cause i have some mh lights comming my way in the mail.....real hot as i understand, and could cause temp problems.....

so this egg crate is flat sheets of plastic that you put on the top of your aquarium? do you cut it to the size of your tank? can you set your lights on top of it, or do you mount your lights in your hood? is this something you can just lift off easily to do water changes? does anyone have a pic of their diy project of egg crate? thanks everyone

 

[fishfreek]

can you set your lights on top of it,

No. With hot lights like MH you woulnt want to sit the fixture on the eggcrate. The eggcrate is simply there to keep the 'jumpers' in the tank and to limit the chance of water splashing up onto the hot bulb and causing it to explode.

Egg crate woudl come off real easy. Just lift it off to do your maintance. You would want the MH bulbs to be at least 8" above the water surface anyway so the best thing to do is mount them inside a box canopy or suspend them above the tank.

 

[Zero333]

Nodoubt, what have you heard badly about the satellite. I just ordered one (dual 20" for my 10 gal) and your comment made me nervious.

Any info would be nice.

 

[Salttanker]

As fishfreak said, you definitely want it to be a good distance above the water, especially if it is a retro. Mine is about 12 inches off of the water. It does get hot, but it has only warmed up my tank about a degree at best. It will most likely melt the eggcrate if you place it directly on it. Are you going to hang it under your canopy, or set it on the tank?

Mike