How many watter per gallon is recommended?

[jw1977]

I've got a 46 gallon bowfront and am looking for either a t5 or mh fixture. What's recommended and what's overkill? Is 156 total watts enough or do I need to bump it up?

 

[wangotango]

Total watts and watts per gallon are pretty useless measurments. Two 175w halides, or 4-5 39w T5 with individual reflectors will allow you to keep anything you want.
-Justin

 

[jw1977]

Thanks, I guess I didn't realize that the wattage doesn't really make a difference. In your example you used a 275 MH versus a 4 39 watts T5. If you were looking at two tanks that each had one of these lighting systems. Would they look that much different?

 

[notsonoob]

When you choose your wattage the only difference about getting higher wattage is the higher you go to penetrate deeper into the water. If you get too much for a shallow tank you could actually have it too intense and burn your corals and stuff.
If you have a deeper tank, then you need more power to get that light intensity to the depths of your tank.

 

[reef_dart21]

personally i go with about 4 watts a gallon but if u want hardcoral/anemonee i would stay with 7 watts per gallon (thats my opinion)

 

[travis89]

Originally Posted by jw1977
Thanks, I guess I didn't realize that the wattage doesn't really make a difference. In your example you used a 275 MH versus a 4 39 watts T5. If you were looking at two tanks that each had one of these lighting systems. Would they look that much different?
The T5 will light the whole tank pretty much the same. With mh you can see brighter areas under the bulbs and more shadowed areas to the sides. The T5's are also more efficient to run, just make sure they have individual reflectors if you buy a fixture.