Best light for FOWLR and soft corals

[lazarus]

i am ready to take plunge into some soft coral stuff...you know...not too challenging but one step beyond FOWLR. I have a 46" long 100g (rules out any 48" lights).
i am confused by all lighting options. can experts recommend ideal wattage, pendant vs long, MH vs PC, and other options?
also, can you use the acintic (sp?) to help condition fish before the bright lights go on?
thanks in advance, posted also on reef section of site. :help:

 

[vanquish]

:notsure: Yea id like to know too. :notsure:

 

[lazarus]

great...hope we get some advice before we get bumped to page 2!

 

[cofishguy]

Don't rule out the 48" lights, I just bought a Nova Extreme 48" Fixture. Its a T-5 with both 10,000K and Acintic lamps as well as Moon lights. The legs that it mounts on the tank with are adjustable all the way along the length of the fixture. So, you could adjust it to fit your 46" tank.
As for wattages, Ive been told about 4 watts/gallon. Mine is the 432 Watt model for my 80 gallon tank. I turn my Acintics on about an hour before the daylight lamps come on and then leave then on about an hour after. This simulates dawn and dusk in your tank.
Im sure others here are more qualified to give you more indepth answers.

 

[vanos]

My lfs tells me for soft corals that at least 4 watts/gallon should be fine.

 

[lazarus]

so that sounds like 400 w for a 100g....right? that sounds like alot for FOWLR and soft corals.
when you see lights that are 2x50W (basically 2 50 W bulbs) is that the same as 100W?
intuitively i dont think so since it generates no more brilliance than 1 50W, just with larger spread, but the LFS guy says 2x50W = 100 W.
is he telling the truth?

 

[lazarus]

ok, i am learning more and more....so 2 x 50 does = 100 in this case.
but do you all think 4 W per g is necessary for FOWLR and some soft corals.....if so this hobby is getting more damn expensive than i thought....
would appreciate any recommendations of good value lighting for a 100g!

 

[cofishguy]

You're right about the expensive part.
I guess I missunderstood you about what you were going to run as far as FOWLR and Soft Corals. I was talking to my LFS guy and he said that for that set up you probably can do half the wattage. So you could probably get away with about 2 watts for gallon for FOWLR and some soft corals. I went ahead and got the full 4 watts because I know how I am. I will want to upgrade later to the harder corals and would have had to get some more lighting,, but know I am set with what I have.
Hope that helps.
PS... two 50 Watt lamps do equal 100 Watts total. Mine has 8 each 54 Watt T-5's So I have 432 Total watts. In my case I have an 80 gallon tank so I am just over 5 Watts/gallon.

 

[lazarus]

thanks...have learned alot in past 24 hrs! i was thinking to buy same unit as yours but then realized my 46" tank has a 47" canopy....even tho you said i could adjust the arms i dont think it would fit inside the canopy....
so then i started to look for 36" models but tough to find one that can deliver 4 w per g.
i am like you, prefer to get the "rolex" now so dont have to upgrade later....
any ideas? and how do you like that light? do you know if these "retrofit" models are made specifically for existing canopies? mine is wood so i could attach parts inside.
thanks!

 

[hagfish]

If you're really wanting the "rolex" now I would get MH or t5. In the long run, they give you more options as to what photosynthetic creatures you can buy. Keep in mind also that watts is the power going in. A watt going into a MH is going to be much more effective than in a PC. MH reaches deeper into a tank and it will have better PAR values, which is more meaningful than watts. Don't be intimidated by the prices you see on new MH fixtures. If you are patient and you poke around on the internet and the auction site you can find some MH retrofits really cheap. I recently bought a used 250 watt pendant with ballast and 6 month old bulb for $30. I built my current canopy with 2x250 watt MH for about $220 altogether. I later added 2 110 watt VHO actinics for about $100.
Oh, and watts per gallon isn't really the best way to determine what you need because it doesn't consider depth of tank or what the watt is going into (PC's, MH, etc.). But I would go with more than 2 wpg. Nothing is really going to thrive with that light. And colors likely won't be as good as they could be.

 

[lazarus]

OK....i did find a used MH 250W pendant for $175. i was nervous b/c i dont get this whole pendant thing...and how to supplement it. for example, i read about moon lights....acinitics (sp?), etc.
can you tell me how to best supplement this fixture for my needs? Many many thanks!

 

[lazarus]

while we are at it....can you pls explain function of acnitics? i will get the spelling right one of these days!

 

[hawke12]

MH's Are over rated. Waste of money IMO. PC or VHO T-5 are good for the money, I Have a 260 W 4 bulb (2 actinic blue, and 2 10000k daylight) In my 72 gallon bowfront, with hard and Soft corals. All has been fine in mine for 6 months and going. In fact they look better than the day I bought them. Just my 2 cents, hope this helps.
P.S. I got My lights from the big auction site for $124 shipped. search for Odyssea and check them out, you'll get mixed reviews, but I haven't had a lick of trouble with mine for 6 months.

 

[hawke12]

Actinic Lighting is for Deeper 'ocean' Depth reproduction. Basically they penetrate the water deeper than daylight bulbs, To replicate the true ocean lighting. You could theoretically use ONLY Actinics.

 

[lazarus]

thanks! it seems nobody would have predicted the success of your setup if you read the threads on this site! i will look for the product you recommended and still welcome others that have had a positive (or negative) experience with lighting.

 

[lazarus]

btw i checked that product and the 48" wont fit in my canopy, so found the 36" model. its 192 watts but that s be enough for a 100g based on this thread.
Q: is there a simple way to augment a light like this if you decide later its not quite enough? do people put second set of lights on their tank or simply start over?
any other reviews on this product (Jebo Odyssea) would be appreciated!

 

[hawke12]

you can always add to it, plus you might want to consider a T-5 'retro fit' kit, since you have a canopy. a retro fit doesnt have the fixture it self just the ballasts and the bulb connectors. that might be more feasible with a canopy. plus its easier to expand later on.

 

[hagfish]

Originally Posted by hawke12
MH's Are over rated. Waste of money IMO. PC or VHO T-5 are good for the money, I Have a 260 W 4 bulb (2 actinic blue, and 2 10000k daylight) In my 72 gallon bowfront, with hard and Soft corals. All has been fine in mine for 6 months and going. In fact they look better than the day I bought them. Just my 2 cents, hope this helps.
P.S. I got My lights from the big auction site for $124 shipped. search for Odyssea and check them out, you'll get mixed reviews, but I haven't had a lick of trouble with mine for 6 months.
I think MH's are far from overrated. They give much higher PAR rating than PC's and they penetrate the water deeper than PC's. Now, if a person only wants low to medium light corals then PC's will be fine on most tanks. But most anemone's, clams, and SPS corals won't do well under PC's for very long.
I have a 72 bow running 500 watts of MH and 220 VHO actinic. I've got mostly softies too with some LPS and an anemone. When things grow too big in that tank I move them to an 80 gallon that I have a 220 watt Jebo (same as Odyssea) PC light running on. It's just shrooms, GSP, and some other softies in there now. Most of the corals I move over don't look nearly as good in that tank. And things aren't growing as fast.

 

[hagfish]

Originally Posted by LAZARUS
thanks! it seems nobody would have predicted the success of your setup if you read the threads on this site! i will look for the product you recommended and still welcome others that have had a positive (or negative) experience with lighting.

I think you are misinformed somehow. Hawke is keeping medium to low light corals. The PC's he has are fine for that as long as the tank isn't too deep (and his isn't). I don't think you'll find many people that would say otherwise.
If you are getting a lot of suggestions for MH it is probably because those people are considering that there's a strong chance you'll want to be able to have more livestock diversity and get a few higher light demanding creatures. For instance, most people want an anemone at some point. There is very little success keeping any hosting anemone's other than the bubble tip anemone under anything other than MH's and t5's. And most would say that the brighter lights would make the bubble tip easier to keep and get to thrive as well.
I have the 48" Jebo fixture as well as a 24" that is on a fuge. I've never had any real problems with either. But there are plenty of stories out there. I think they are a bit of a risk, but I think more work fine than don't. The scary part is on the ones that don't work OK fire seems to be a strong possiblity.

 

[hagfish]

And as for actinics, they are mostly for looks. They do provide some blue spectrum which can help some creatures. But it won't make a huge difference if you don't have them as far as coral health. What they do best is make your corals glow, they really bring out the colors. They also allow you to use lower kelvin bulbs for your other lights while not looking too yellow overall, which will usually translate into better coral growth.