lighting for 72 gallon

[dano]

I curently have 2 x 55 watt PC, and 2 x 40 Watt Fluorescent on 72 gallon (20 inch depth) fish and live rock tank with an ecosystem sump. I would like to move to some hardy corals, maybe anemones, and begin the reef. Is this enough lighting? When I called That Fish Place he suggested a Coralife Lunar Aqualight Plus (4 x96 watt PC and 3 3/4 watt moonlight LED) for $450 which I would rather not spend unless I need to. If more light is needed is this a good way to go? Any experience with this fixture? Thanks.

[Guest clownfish4]

Are you trying to do this cheaply? Metal Halides are one of the best investments I have made. Also, anemones need pretty strong lighting. I had a soft coral reef in a 55g tank using 2 55w power compacts.

[sde219]

The lighting you describe - 2x55W PCs and 2x40W NOs is not sufficient for any anemone other than perhaps rock anemones and is probably insufficient for most corals except some softies. There are exceptions to this but starting off right will make this hobby a lot easier for you.

 

If you make a comprehensive list of everything you want to keep it would be easier for us to advise you on lighting. The particular corals - both type(LPS,SPS,Softies,Anemones) and species play a particularly important role in the lighting, water flow, and filters that aquarists select. Making the right choice from the beginning is the most cost effective and hassle-free way to enjoy the hobby. Your fish selections affect the types of corals you can keep also. Knowing what you want is the most important factor in how to provide for it.

 

If you think $450 is a lot for your lighting, you are going to be in for a bit of a wake up call because this hobby isn't cheap and a 72bowfront is one of the more difficult DIYs for lighting because one can't easily just throw together a canopy. Assuming you want the aquarium to be show quality and very visible you will need either a nice wooden canopy or an enclosed fixture both of which tend to be more pricy and they dictate the type of lighting arrangement you can provide. If you prefer a fixture over a hood, Your cheapest option is a probably around $250 new and would have 4x65W PCs - the upper end of fixtures would probaly be around $800 and would include 2x250W MHs and some actinic PCs. Retrofitting a fixture into a canopy will be slightly less expensive but you will need to find a canopy that you like and decide on what to keep to figure out what bulbs/retrofit you need.

 

You can save money buying used and I highly reccommend it. But the first step is what you want - in detail - and that might require a bit of research and window shopping to get an idea. I suggest looking at some local WAMAS members reefs and deciding what you want yours to look like and what kind of effort you want to put into it.

[Lee Stearns]

Great post-SDE 219- do the research and I advise not climbing your way up to Metal halides- If you think you can resist the SPS bug then you might not need them- but most alternatives are not that much lesss expensive- And the colors and growth will be appreciatively better under a MH qnd Actinic cobination.

[mosheikh]

I have a 72 Gallon Bowfront. I am keeping Softies at the moment. 4x65 Watts. I am also trying to upgrade my lighting and trying to get clams, sps, and anemones. Which T5 Lighting would you reccomend? and how many bulbs?

 

 

-Mohsin

[dano]

thanks for your comments. I currently have a wooden cannopy which I had built for my 65 gallon and I just took the front piece off. So, I could conceivabley use a retrofit, though I don't think it will save very much. I am reluctant to use the metal halides because my tank is already running on the hot end and I think I would t hen need a chiller. I dojn't know much at all re. corals so I am fine at this point just going with the hardiest. My current tank inhabitants are a yellow tang, a gobie (forgot the name - long, thin, blue with orange - 3"), domino damsel, fiji damsel, 3 peculas, French Angel (does this rule out all corals?), and a small gobie or wrasse (1 1/2") - never have been able to identify it), and two urchins. Are there particular corals which would work/not work with these inhabitants? Where does one look for used lighting supplies? In the past I have just upgraded by buying whole but incomplete systems leaving me with a whole lot of extra stuff i don't need thought still more affordable that buying new.

[cabrerad]

Dano,

 

I have to agree with SDE and Lee. If you want to go for the more light demanding anemones (or if you eventually SPS/LPS corals) on a tank that size, it is best to go with Halides. VHO/PC/T5 d o not have the punch that a point source halide light has. This is especially true for corals kept in lower parts of a deeper tank. In addition, I actually think it is rather inaccurate to say they cost way more than PC/T5/VHO set ups. The set up may cost more initially, but you don't need as many bulbs per unit area/volume, and the bulbs have a much longer useful life (up to 1 year plus vs say 6-9 months plus). So when you factor in the number of ballasts/fixtures/bulbs and bulbs needed to match the output (but not penetration) of halides and the fluorescent fixtures don't really save you much if any money. Heat output, of course, is another matter.

If you want to stay with fluorescent fixtures, there are many corals that would do ok in the top third of the tanks and some at the bottom. If you are willing to use retrofits, I am sure you can do it for much less than 450 dollars. You could buy another 2 X55 retrofit for example and ditch the NO (or se it for the sump if you have one). You could also see if any WAMAS members are selling retrofits or canopies. And yes the Angel will be a problem not only with nipping corals, but by the fact that it will outgrow your tank. Also, fair warning, urchins knock corals over so be ready for that. They are little builldozers. I would think hard about what you want to keep now and what you may want to keep in the future so you buy the right stuff.

 

Weapon,

 

If you want clams, SPS, and anemones I would not bother with T5's on that size tank for the reasons mentioned above. I would look into a halide set up and supplement actinic with your current PC fixtures. I know a few people are prasing the wonders of T5's and I don't dispute they are nice. But if you take a closer look lots of these T5 systems are more shallow and I know of at least one case of someone photoshoping ( and a really bad job of it) Acros (imagine a glow in the dark blue tort that is so blue it makes the rock around it glow blue also :o ) to try to make the T5 performance look better. Also, I would plan out how to keep SPS and anemones so they don't crowd each other. I have a four year old BTA that has completely taken over half of a 29 standard (I have to keep taking corals out of the tank as it grows).

 

David

[steveoutlaw]

Dano - I'm going to be selling a 6mo old Coralife Aqualight 4x65w with 4 lunar lights at the beginning of April. I'm selling this with the control center power strip for $200.00 if you're interested.

 

Steve