and another question...

tripleup05

tripleup05

Member
I'm getting ready to do some more with my lighting. Right now all I have is FOWLR, and thats all I plan on keeping for awhile. Eventually though I do plan on keeping some corals and such. All I have now lighting my tank is one 36" strip light with an actinic blue (about 20,000k I think) bulb. Basically, I'm getting tired of having the blue glare all over everything. So I was thinking of buying another strip to run a lower spectrum white/daylight type bulb in it to blend together with the blue. Thinking that might be better for the critters and LR...? But anyways, I then decided to go ahead and get a 3-tube strip and have 4 bulbs total. With that many bulbs I thought I could run a full spectrum pretty well. But then again, I'm not sure, so would that be sufficient later on when I want to do corals and the like? Or should I go ahead and buy a compact flourecent setup even though I dont necesarily need it yet. And if I should, what would be the best kind to get for a 46bow front? I know that alot, but thanks yall!
 
rayray2857

rayray2857

Member
It really all depends on how many watts of lighting you will have with the flourescent lighting, for a fourty-six gl I would recomend no less then 230 watts and thats at least. With that you could keep some easy corals like mushrooms,zoos,polyps, and so on... However I do think you would be better off with the power compact lighting. But if I was you I wouldnt get any new lighting until I was ready to go to a reef tank because if you buy the lights now then you are just going to have them burn out b4 you even get corals, then you would have to spend more money on new bulbs.:happyfish :) :happyfish hope this helps, Later
 
tripleup05

tripleup05

Member
alright thats cool with me. less money to spend! so i guess i'll go ahead and buy one more single strip light for the time being (probably be over a year before i try corals) what i have now is the Marine Glo bulb. I forget who makes it, but like i said its really blue and i know over 18,000K. what kind of bulb do you recomend for the other strip that would blend well to produce a more even color?
 
dmc888

dmc888

Member
I would just go and buy the pc instead of waiting.
Why waste your money on another strip light. $50 that could go towards a nice $160 coralife pc
I have coralife pcs on both of my tanks and i am very happy with them.
They have 2 seperate switches, so you don't have to use the other bulb if you don't want to.
I would check them out at the lfs and if you like it buy it online.
Thats what i did.
Plus you never know you might try corals or anemones sooner than you think.:D
 
rayray2857

rayray2857

Member
If you do decide to buy the pc lighting right now, then I would go to ---- and buy the JEBO PC's, they are good lights. I use them and I have some anemones and corals that are just fine with them. IMO I think that water quality is the big factor in whether or not your inhabitants live. Don't get me wrong, good lighting is to, but......... N E ways I went off topic LOL. If you go ahead and take my advice about waiting and you get the othere light, then I would get a white light.:) Hope that helps a little more. Oh yeah the reason for the JEBO is that they are cheaper and also pretty good lights. You can get 220 watts for about $80.00
 
rayray2857

rayray2857

Member
Oh, one more thing, the reason for spending the $50 on another flourescent light now is because if you do get your pc lights now and wait a year to get corals, then you are going to have to pay about $100.00-150.00 to replace all the bulbs.
 
tripleup05

tripleup05

Member
Thanks RAYRAY. tonight i made an investment in a 20dollar 50/50. alot cheaper than a PC! I know I wont do anything more than fish and lr for awhile because i've gotta graduate high school and make sure i have a place where my tank will be for a long time before gettin really delicate stuff!! i dont trust my parents to watch after it lol while i'm away at school, so i might take it to college, and that'll be another four years with just fish (cause i might have to move around some). i mean dont get me wrong i know its a pain to move any tank, but i want it to be where it will stay for a long time before i really throw lots of money into this. so yep, ur idea won out!
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member

Originally posted by RAYRAY2857
If you do decide to buy the pc lighting right now, then I would go to ---- and buy the JEBO PC's, they are good lights. I use them and I have some anemones and corals that are just fine with them. IMO I think that water quality is the big factor in whether or not your inhabitants live. Don't get me wrong, good lighting is to, but......... N E ways I went off topic LOL. If you go ahead and take my advice about waiting and you get the othere light, then I would get a white light.:) Hope that helps a little more. Oh yeah the reason for the JEBO is that they are cheaper and also pretty good lights. You can get 220 watts for about $80.00

An FYI mentioning ---- or other only retailers that compete with saltwaterfish.com are against forum rules no big deal alot of ppl do it just a heads up so you dont get in trouble.
Also how long have you had your anemones and corals and what types of corals do you have?
 
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