lighting question

tonyzick

Member
I have a 35 gallon hexagon tank and i just purchased a custom sealife 96 watt smartlite that is 16 1/2" x 6" long is this to much light for this tank.
 

andymi

Member
I think they are going to ask what you are keeping in the tank. I know you dont need as much light for a Fish Only tank as you would for a reef tank. I just asked a similar question about the amount of light I have. I heard the rule of thumb was approx. 3 watts per gallon for a reef tank, but it can vary based on what you are keeping in the tank. I also heard the more lights, the more color you catch off the fish and such.
HTH
Andy
 

-shawn-

Member
i really don't think there is such thing as too much light, however the more watts the more heat, and you don't want your tanke to get to hot. But it really does depend on what you are wanting to keep in it. As Andy said. The typical suggestion for a tank, if you are want to do corals and what not, is 3-5 watts per gallon. Some people use more ike 7-9 watts per gallon, and some people try to get away with less (but they are usually not as happy). But if it is fish only you don't need all that much light, and but the it doesn't harm most of the fish.
 

burnnspy

Active Member
Since you are in the reef section of this BB, you need another smart light to successfully keep just about any corals. If you plan to keep SPS corals then you need to add 1-175 or 250watt MH bulb instead.
BurnNSpy
 

tonyzick

Member
Originally posted by BurnNSpy:
<STRONG>Since you are in the reef section of this BB, you need another smart light to successfully keep just about any corals. If you plan to keep SPS corals then you need to add 1-175 or 250watt MH bulb instead.
BurnNSpy</STRONG>
I currently have mushrooms,mushroom anenomes and a bubble coral.I would like to get a torch coral,long tenticle plate coral and some polyps.do you think this lighting should be sufficent.
 
Top