corals, aenomes, lighting?

[elmcerber]

I've had a FO tank - 55gal for 2yrs, 5yrs ago. Then I set it back up 10 months ago. I just got a new 48" PC light for it. While I was waiting for the light to arrive, I got a deal on a 130 gal tank (66"x24"x18"). The light is now suspended from the celing above my new 130 gal tank. I bought the light so maybe I could get a coral or two and a aenome or two. I'm now worried that the light is not powerful enough in the new tank. 2-65 watt 10,000K lamps and 2-65 watt ultra-actininc. Will any coral or aenome live here?
(I know I need more live rock first)

 

[elmcerber]

Here are the two main tennants right now.

 

[powdertoastman]

well if there not PC, VHO or MH lights then about the only things you can keep with them is shrooms and MAYBE green star polyps, but if you get VHO's you can keep almost anything, most people say 5watts per gallon of the tank, so a 100 tank would need at least 500 watts of light. HTH

 

[elmcerber]

they are PC, 4-24" bulbs
also, could I replace 65 watt bulbs with a higher wattage bulb, or do they require a different socket?

 

[attml]

I would definitely not try to keep an anenome under that lighting and very few corals as Powdertoastman said. I also would not rely on the watts per gallon method of lighting because it is very flawed. A 30 gallon tank that is only 16 inches deep will get twice as much light as a 300 gallon tank that is 32 inches deep even though they both may have 5 watts per gallon of total lighting. If you want to keep SPS Corals or Clams (and if I were to keep them Anenomes as well) IMO/IME VHO or PC won't get it done. You need MH lighting which penetrates the water much more intensely. Here is a link to a thread I started about MH lighting a while back https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/73729/proper-lighting-for-sps . VHO and PC are good for most LPS & Soft corals if you have enough of it, but what you have now would be only strong enough for some polyps & mushrooms.

 

[elmcerber]

im sorry, im reading these posts and I'm confused - I feel like I should know what SPS and LPS are. please elaborate for this beginner
also - If I can only keep shrooms or polyps, that might be enough for me, really looking for just a more decorative backdrop for the fish I will have.
looking for something easy, nice looking, low-maitenance(not that a SW tank is low-maitenance)

 

[attml]

Sorry about that! There are 3 basic types of corals that you can keep in a reef tank (4 if you include non-photosynthetic corals that require no light at all).
1. Soft corals - Generally some of the easist to keep and typically they require less light. These include Mushrooms, Polyps, Tree corals, etc.
2. LPS Corals (Large Polyp Stoney) These usually require more light and are a little more difficult to keep but still fairly easy. They typically have some type of hard skeleton that extends a series of large polyps. These include Trupet coral, Hammer coral, gonipora etc.
3 SPS Coral (Small Polyp Stoney) These are typically the most challanging corals. They require excellent/ stable water conditions and very high insensity lighting to thrive. These include Acroporas, Montiporas, Pocilliporas etc.
4. Non-photsynthetic corals. Corals that require no light at all to survive. They feed off of things in the water. and usually require you to target feed them. These include Some Gorgonians, Sun Polys, Carnation coral and a few others.
HTH