LIGHTING, IS IT ENOUGH???

[salt one]

ok, i have a 75 gallon reef tank, and a good deal of live rock, 2 corals (open brain,and plate coral), 2 anenomies, feather dusters. right now i have on the tank.....
Power Glow 40 watt 48" Fluorescent
VHO 55 watt 36" Showlight
this is all i have on it right now, if that isn't enough i also could put a....
Marine Glow 20 watt 24" fluorescent. but that all i have. is this enough, i have alot of growth, alot of coraline alge and all my corals are doing good, but i am going to check with you guys. thanks

 

[drewster]

I'm not a lighting guru but from what i've learned from reading books, that seems a little low for what you have. I know the open brain requires intense lighting. I think the plate coral is the same way. I don't even think an extra 20W is going to help. I'd either try and upgrade to more VHO's or PC's at least. Just my opinion, but i'm only a novice.

 

[terry]

Hi salt one. That sounds good to start out with however a 75 gallon tank is a deep tank. As you get into the more harder to keep corals like (Elegance coral) etc. you will need more watts. I have a 75 gallon tank also but I use 4 111.00 watts vho bulbs for the clams and more harder to keep corals.
For a deep tank you need alot of watts.
Gust somthing to keep in mind.
Terry

 

[lovethesalt]

Drewster are you sure about the brain?I was told to keep my open brain out of intense lighting as it may bleach it.Just want to be cautious thanks

 

[reptilicus]

Hi,
the open brain does need fairly intense lighting, I don't think Salt One has enough (sorry!). They key is to acclimate them so that they do not bleach. Without sufficient light, they will begin to detatch from their skeletons after a while. They are not what you would call a light-loving coral, although a couple NO and 1 VHO tube doesn't sound like enough.
4 VHO's would be enough to keep most things. I use 3 400 watt MH's plus actinic for my tank, but I keep some very light-loving critters in my tank. My open brain sits at the bottom.
Regards,
Tom

 

[salt one]

ok, i don't have alot of money to be running out and spending another 300 dollars. i thought maybe i would try to get a 48" 110 watt VHO, but i can't do anymore, and i have the the 40 watt fluorescent too, is that ok?

 

[drewster]

According to one of my reef books, you are supposed to have 2-5 watts of light per gallon. Since you have corals like open brains and such I would say you should be at least 3-4 watts per gallon. So basically you need about 225W to 300W total. Just my opinion.

 

[krazzydart]

I have the same set-up.... and I use a 48" compact florisant and a twin tube (48")with an ATINIC and a 10,000 specV and every thing is doing great ....this tank has been set up for over 3 yrs now...

 

[clayton]

It's all going to depend on what you want to keep salt. In general I would agree with Drewster, 3-4w per gallon minimum for your average reef tank. The brain coral is going to depend on the spp. and where it came from. Some only need moderate lighting others need intense. The same applies to the plate coral.
In general, the gigher the lighting intensity, the faster the growth rate.