Lighting question

[bnutz24]

ok with the cost of lighting well decent lighting has anyone used a shorter light than your tank? for example my tank is 72in long (yeah big boy) what would happen if I bought a 36 or 48in MH light and suspended it in the center of my canopy insted of (2) 36in MH or (1)72in MH. I am trying to think ahead got plans for a forming a reef in my tank later on. or should I just save up for the $1600 MH 72 incher?

 

[alanwest]

bump because i want to know this also going from a 55 gallon to a 125 soon.

 

[cjason3041]

if you use a shorter light it might limit the ends and you still neet to be at the proper wattage per gallon...4-5 for strong corals, 2-4 for shrooms and you can get away with less for FOWLR...need to know the wattage.... for example i have a 150MH on a 29 biocube....that is 24 gallons of water and roughly 6 watts per gallon, i have it loaded with coral and coraline growth is great....my 55 gal FOWLR has 72 watts of PC and not any real growth, but the fish look good

 

[aquaguy24]

you prolly would have to put most of the corals directly underneath the light..fish should be ok tho...or go with T5's much cheaper...

 

[bnutz24]

Well thinking that I want to go in a pyrmid-ish aquascapeing. so the biggest concern is coral placement and wattage. ok got a plan where the light fade would actually help my aquascaping. thanks for the info

also would T5's support coral and anemone (Spelling I know is all wrong

)

 

[aquaguy24]

well i have a 90g and getting my 48" nova extreme t5's soon. its has 8x54watts..under 500 bucks.enought for just about any coral or anemone.can't beat that...plus a 72" mh light has 3 mh bulbs..that major heat...my lfs has a 6' tank with retrofit mh with 3 14,000k bulbs man it is hot when i stand next to it..u gotta get a chiller or put fans to blow the heat away and still the heat stays in ur house which makes summer days a killer for u and ur family...some like MH some like T5's..its up to you....just make sure u have like 4-6watts/g if u want to keep hard corals and clams

 

[isistius]

when i got my 135 (72") a year ago, it came with a 60" lighting set up. i really couldn't complain, cause it was all free. it works fine, but there is limited light on the ends of the tank. i've seen some decent growth, but like aquaguy said, most of the corals that require more light, need to be placed directly underneath. however, if i were to buy a new system for the tank right now, i would go with the aquatinics 72" constellation fixture. it's a t-5 setup with 14x39w bulbs. you could get it with all the bulbs for under $1000. more than enough light for any type of coral or anemone that you would possibly want to keep.
jmo

 

[bnutz24]

Thanks for the advice I have it narrow down to type I want T-5's now if anyone could point me in the direction for some good info on them and what options I have to work with I want to not have a plastic case on them and mount to my canopy (is that a retro kit?) but if they do have a case I would like it to be mountable by the top and not have legs on it

so any links or good sites with info on t-5 options would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bnutz24]

Originally Posted by cjason3041
if you use a shorter light it might limit the ends and you still neet to be at the proper wattage per gallon...4-5 for strong corals, 2-4 for shrooms and you can get away with less for FOWLR...need to know the wattage.... for example i have a 150MH on a 29 biocube....that is 24 gallons of water and roughly 6 watts per gallon, i have it loaded with coral and coraline growth is great....my 55 gal FOWLR has 72 watts of PC and not any real growth, but the fish look good
BTW is that combined wattage or bulb wattage? I.E 2 fixtures at 250w = 500w or is 2 fixtures at 250w = 250w? because at 5w per gallon I am looking at 650w that is some power