How much is enough?

[Brian]

Just wanted to get opinions on how much light is enough and does it matter the source. I have always been told the rule of thumb is 3watts per gallon. Now I want to get some new lighting for my 90 but I see alot of lights that are 260watts total. So is that enough or does the source make a difference? Does 250w MH light put out more than say 250w of PC? Opinions welcome. Also if anyone has some light 48" lighting for sale cheap I might be interested.

 

Thanks,

 

Brian

[jason the filter freak]

MH and T5 are better than PC. Watts per gallon is an inadequate measure of light. Despite what you might have found in the past there is such a thing as too much light (in addition to too little light) it depends on what kind of coral you want to grow. What are you looking to grow. I've seen RBTA, GBTA, clam, LPS and SPS living in just 108 watts of t5 in a 75 gal, yes that translates to just two bulbs.

[Brian]

Right now I have some zoas, BTA, and frogspawn. Currently they are under 2 150w MH and 3 24w PC lights. Well 2 of the ballasts for the PC lighting is dieing so thinking about replacing all the lighting at once.

[Brian]

Right now I have some zoas, BTA, and frogspawn. Currently they are under 2 150w MH and 3 24w PC lights. Well 2 of the ballasts for the PC lighting is dieing so thinking about replacing all the lighting at once.

[Brian]

RIght now I have zoas, a BTA, and some frogspawn in the 90. The reason I bring it up it that 2 of the ballasts are going in my PC lighting and I was thinking about replacing all the light at once. Right now everything is sitting under 2 150w MH and 4 24w PC lighting.

[zygote2k]

T5's, PC's, VHO are all fluorescent bulbs. Some have more intensity than others.

Halide is the way to go with some sort of fluorescent bulbs for actinics or a dawn to dusk effect. Moonlights and LED's are a waste of time- they are more for the humans than the inhabitants.

[treesprite]

The most economical are T-5s and they do fine. I have SPS frags growing under 4 of 39w T-5 bulbs on a 65g tank.

[CHUBAKAH]

Moonlights and LED's are a waste of time- they are more for the humans than the inhabitants.

Personally, I don't think there are enough studies to make a claim that LED's are a "waste of time" yet. I also don't agree with the statement you made this week that closed loop systems are only useful for larger tanks.

 

I also hear from others you don't believe in skimmers either?

 

If you want to live in the past, and not move in to the 21 century, that's fine and dandy.

 

It just seems to me that when someone is asking a question, we as members of WAMAS owe each other the best advice we can give based on studies, and not one's opinion of "what they think"

 

I'd love to see one of these amazing tanks your keeping based on these methods you use, or more specifically an SPS dominated tank.

 

Brian,

 

It's going to come down to several things for your lighting, and what works for me, may not work for you, and visa versa. I am running 600 watts of MH total on my 100 gallon system, and in the very near future will be adding some T5 fixtures to add even more light.

 

There are plenty of studies out there now that show one can be very sucessful with T5's alone, on a SPS dominated tank. You are really the only one who is going to know what is going to work for you. If you are planning to stay with LPS and softies, you're not going to need a bunch of MH's, as these type of corals are just not that demanding.

 

MH's also put off a lot of heat, so that may not work for you either if you are not up to spending a ton of money on a chiller, which is a consideration.

 

Personally, I like the shimmer of the water effect you get from MH's, and my tank is now mostly SPS corals, so MH's work well in my situation, but I have seen hundreads of tanks that are just as sucessful if not more so using T5's.

 

It's going to come down to what you like, and what works for you.

 

Tell us what your plans are for the future of your system, and I'm sure you can get some better tips.