are my lights strong enough for any inverts?

[pontius]

I have a 72 gallon, 48 inches long. in the hood, I have two 21inch power compact 165 watt 50% daylight, 50% blue actinic. is this strong enough for any inverts? I have read that you should have 3-5 watts per gallon, but I have also read that this rule does not apply for power compact bulbs. any ideas how many wattage of p.c. needed per gallon, and what inverts (sessile inverts, not motile inverts) can I have? any help on this is appreciated.

 

[yellowtail]

inverts? as in like shrimp and snails or corals?please be a little bit more clear and i will happily answer your question:yes:

 

[elfdoctors]

The 3-5 wpg is only moderate light. The primary inverts that are primarily photosynthetic are anemones and clams. Most of these species need bright light (closer to 10 wpg). Almost all of the other inverts, shrimp, snails, crabs, cucumbers, urchins, starfish, etc will do fine in your tank.

 

[eg_hatch]

I have a Bubble Tip and a Condylactis in my 55 under 170 watts of PC, theyre doing really good..For anenomes, I dont think you need a lot of light, because you can always do regular feedings. IME, it matter MORE on your water quality.. But if you cant afford it, like me, leave it and itll do just fine.

 

[pontius]

Yellowtail, I meant like soft corals, and anemones. thanks.

 

[wannabfish]

it never fails to amaze me at some opinions given on here for lighting. -for once, i think ill add my opinion as well. there is no difinitive answer on lighting. "watts per gallon" means absolutely nothing if its not the proper intensity or colors. however, with your lighting, you could easily maintain a thriving bubble tip, and lots of other animals. i think you should ask for opinions on the specific things you want, see what some people on here have accomplished. sometimes, placement is of great importance as well. anyway, i just wanted to say that anemones do NOT require intense lighting if fed properly. and watts per gallon has no relevance to anything to do with what you can, and can not keep in a reef tank without taking many other things into consideration. and there is no 100% correct answers. anyway, there is my opinion on the subject of lighting

 

[wannabfish]

Also, that wasnt meant to be disrespectful or combatative to anyone on here, just pointing out that often there is an opinion given on the subject of lighting that isnt always 100% accurate

 

[elfdoctors]

A bubble tip anemone will survive in that tank and it may live a year or two. It will not thrive. This is a shame for a creature which should live 100 years in the wild. Only people who have metal halides seem to be able to get them to thrive (and split).
Look under the care requirements for a bubble tip on this website: meaty foods and (not or) strong(not moderate) lighting.
People who say otherwise tend to be either LFS people who want to sell you the anemone before it dies in their tank or aquarists who buy one and feel that the fact that it is still alive after several months means that it is doing well. They will usually gradually lose their colors as they die. Other people continue to believe that clownfish require an anemone - they do not.
As long as you are using lights designed for aquaria, wpg is a very useful approximation of light intensity. I agree that it is not true if you are trying to use shop lights or something made for a different purpose. There are many other factors such as distance which also play a critical role.
Pontius, Soft corals will do fine under your light. Stay away from the hard corals however.

 

[viet-tin]

IMO i dun think btas need strong lightin i have a 75 wit 260watt of pc n it seems 2 be doin fine.it also split last night witout the help of Mh...jus as eg_hatch said as long as u do regular feedings theyll be fine...