I need some real help!!! (WITH LIGHTING)

saltyfishy

saltyfishy

Member
I need some real help!!!
I just started a "REAL" (Before i only had a coral banded shrimp, blue damsel, and a clownfish) And I need some help with the light ing for my 55 gallon fish tank. I am planing on put live rock,live sand,hard corals,soft corals,most inverts. So pretty more a all around reef tank. But im confused on all of this lighting.
Can some please help!!
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zeromus-x

zeromus-x

Member
Some corals require Metal Halide lighting. If you're planning on having SPS corals, you'll need it. I think hard corals prefer MH lighting as well.
I went with a light similar to the one you're looking at. My tank is smaller (36g bowfront), so I went with a 24" Odyssea 2x65 light. A lot cheaper than the Orbit versions, and looks just as good in my opinion. But remember, it's not a MH light, so if you really want to go all out, do it right the first time and get one of those.
 
crzyfshygy

crzyfshygy

Member
Metal Halides are the best, I have a 37 gl with 2 150watt metal halides. The bulbs are 20,000k. If you want to be unlimited in what you can have in the tank you should consider the metal halides. They make all different kinds of bulbs you can get. I went with the 20,000k bulbs because they have a ACTINIC look to them already with out having to get a seperate system...plus they are Halides, so they are strong..and the lighting runs deep down to the bottom of the tank. I have a clam I just purchased and soft and hard corals. The lamps are coralife advanced series...they are not strip lights...but a single lamp. They are cool...plus they give off the shallow water shimmering effect.
 
saltyfishy

saltyfishy

Member
would this work?
Dual 175 Watt Aquarium Canopy Light Kit
48" Reflector Canopy
Aluminum Extruded Cooling Ballast Box?
 
hermitkrab

hermitkrab

Member
Well if crzyfshygy is talking about what I think he is then get that. Becuase I believe he is talking about the Coralife Hang-on Tank model. It just clamps on the side of the tank and doesn't take up a ton of room. Plus it is HQI double-ended which is better than mogul MHs but is still a MH. The bulbs for it are like $50 which is kinda cheap for MHs. Those are the same lights I want to get :yes: .
 
fishieness

fishieness

Active Member
pc lighting will work for soft corals. Some anenomes like a bubble tip if you have enough of them. Some clams have been known to be kept in pc's, but most types require metal halides.
 
saltyfishy

saltyfishy

Member
Originally Posted by crzyfshygy
Metal Halides are the best, I have a 37 gl with 2 150watt metal halides. The bulbs are 20,000k. If you want to be unlimited in what you can have in the tank you should consider the metal halides. They make all different kinds of bulbs you can get. I went with the 20,000k bulbs because they have a ACTINIC look to them already with out having to get a seperate system...plus they are Halides, so they are strong..and the lighting runs deep down to the bottom of the tank. I have a clam I just purchased and soft and hard corals. The lamps are coralife advanced series...they are not strip lights...but a single lamp. They are cool...plus they give off the shallow water shimmering effect.
Do you think you can post a pic of you light set up?
 
fishieness

fishieness

Active Member
It depends what you want to keep for wattage. Low wattage, (between 2-3 watts per gallon) would allow you to keep low lighting corla s like mushrooms. Medium (4-6 wpg) would allow you to keep medium lighting corlas. And around 8-10 wpg would allow you to keep sps. But this does depend on how high your tank is, where you place the coroals, and what type of lighting you have. If you have metal halids, 150 watts of those would be a heck of a lot more light than 150 watts of PCs.
Bulbs dont matter too much if you have PC or VHO since they stretch across the entire tank. It you do a single metal halid bulb, depending on the bulb, then 2 might be better.
I have 192 watts in my 40 breeder. So that is only about 5 watts per gallon of PCs. But the tank is also only 16 inches high, so i would be able to keep some types of LPS that require medium lighting comfortably. havent done so yet though. Still waiting to go into those.
 
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