How many Watts is enough??

[rutz15]

I am starting a 55 gallon reef tank and i am going to be putting anenomes in there after it cycles through and i wait for several months....but i was wondering what is the wattage i will need to keep them alive....also i would like to know the same thing but about coral how much wattage it would take to keep them alive
Thanks
Rutz

 

[bang guy]

What species of Anemone and what corals?

 

[rutz15]

i dont know yet but what would be the least amount of watts i would need for an anenome or coral??

 

[zanoshanox]

Pretty much for any corals or anemones to survive in a 55, I would always recomend MH. If you had a PC fixture you might have a shot at keeping a bubble or something, but ultimately everything in your tank will do much better under MH. A 225 or 250 w fixture would be excellent for your 55.

 

[zanoshanox]

And last thing, dont go by WPG anymore, go more by intensity or the lighting.

 

[rutz15]

i found a fixture that hold 8 bulbs in it and it come with 4 65 watt bulbs so that would be 260 watts and it comes with 4 moon lights would that be ok

 

[rutz15]

Bump

 

[mag395]

Go with Metal Halide. Power Compacts don't have the necessary intensity to punch through to the bottom of the tank where the anemones will be. Some fixtures have MH supplemented by PC's. That'd be good.

 

[rutz15]

The one i was going to get says this:
Unit has German Polished Aluminum Spider Reflector inside to increase reflectivity 300%
and also i could take out 2 of the moon light and put 2 more 65 watt bulbs in there how about that bc i have a budget and MH is expensive

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by Rutz15
The one i was going to get says this:
Unit has German Polished Aluminum Spider Reflector inside to increase reflectivity 300%
and also i could take out 2 of the moon light and put 2 more 65 watt bulbs in there how about that bc i have a budget and MH is expensive
MH is about the same as PC. If your vendor has MH higher priced then try a different vendor.
I'd suggest 2 X 150 HQI + 1 X 110 VHO (URI SuperActinic).
If you can't find a good priced setup please e-mail me at guynwarsaw@yahoo.com and I'll look around. I have more lighting resources than most.