Lighting questions

[sailfin tang]

have an 80 gallon bow front 48"
I still have the original hood that came with the tank, 2 48' lights no fan.
I upgraded the original bulbs to 40 watt 6500k.
As I get my reef tank going it sounds like I better upgrade...but to what??
I want anemonies, feather dusters, maybe some easier corals, and a few community fish with shrimp and a clean-up crew.
Anyway to get by with stronger bulbs for the hood I have?
Would a pc like this work better or is it even brighter than what I have?
Wattage: 2 x 65W
No./Color Temp: 2-SmartPaq 10,000K/460nm
No. of Lunar Lights: 2 (with separate power supply)
Fan: Yes (with separate power supply
No. of Switches: 1 (for PC bulbs)?
Do I have to spend the larger dollars on a metal halide?

 

[harris28]

For anenomes you will need stonger lighting than 2 pc's. You could go MH or go T5. Google Aquactinics Tx5. I just bought it and you should be able to keep anything you want with it. Good luck with the light endeavour, it's a tough one!!!

 

[scsinet]

You can go with any technology you like, but T5s and Halides are the biggies. PC is obsolete and expensive to run because the lamps are so expensive and have to be replaced so often.
You need to look at around 400 watts minimum for anemones on that tank.

 

[sailfin tang]

Harris, it looks like I'd be in for about 500 for the Aquactinics tx5 including the bulbs.
Does that sound about right?
What bulb combination would you recommend?

 

[harris28]

Yeah, that's about right. I paid $480 shipped to my door. I used the following light combination:
From the front
1-ATI Aqua Blue 12K
1-UVL Super Actinic
1-UVL AquaSun 10K
1-ATI Blue Plus
1-GE 6500K
Lamps 2 and 4 are on a separate switch so those woulb be your morning and late night bulbs. I love the way it looks. The picture below is what the combination looks like. Sorry it's small I resized kinda stupid like but it gives you the idea what it looks like.

 

[sailfin tang]

Ok I settled on the Aquactinics tx5 and I greatly appreciate the direction.
Can you tell me why you chose those particular bulbs and what there purposes are.
If you varied from that what would you have done?
Thanks
Kev

 

[harris28]

Well actually what happened was I saw someones reef tank on here and loved the color of it. I wanted to keep clams,SPS,and LPS and like you I asked for direction. I had two different people on here helping and they both steered me in the same direction. One of the guys even gave me par values of the different bulbs. They said the clams would eat up the 10k, the 12k added some blue, 6500k added some yellow and good old sun light and the blues ..well gave some blue to equal it all out. Lighting is a crazy subject but Iam verypleased with how it turned out and Iamvery thankful for the help I received and it was a good experince.

 

[sailfin tang]

Super thanks
Did you find one site to order it all from?
Is yours right over the water or do you use a canopy?

 

[kochankr]

hi there, well i'm doing my research on lights and i just ran into this post so here is the question, if i'm setting up a 30 gal for a clown or two and some anemonies. How much light do i need for the anemonies to be happy? what would you guys suggest for small tank like this?

 

[harris28]

Hey sailfin I will PM you with where I bought it from but I got it all at one placed and shipped for $480. Mine is right over the water inside my canopy.
kochankr, anenomes require intense lighting. However I am very new to the light game myself an have done hours of reading and talking with people. I quess it all depends on what you want as far as T5 or MH. I personally would go with T5 for heat reasons and the frequency of changing bulbs compared to the T5. The Tx5 would be alot for you but then again I don't know if there is such a thing as too much

but who knows. Check into the Tek light. Maybe some one can chime in and help you better that I.

 

[sailfin tang]

Hey Harris thanks again for your help.
Call me unoriginal

but I went ahead and did exactly the same thing you did.
Shipping now can't wait..

 

[harris28]

Hey good deal. Let me know how you like them. I love them and it was well worth the money. Did you get them from the same place? Because if you found it cheaper I don't want to hear about it

!!

 

[sailfin tang]

Same place same everything. Couldn't find it cheaper but not for lack of trying

Mine came to 484 so unless you were estimating you beat me by 4 bucks.

 

[scotty37]

I am getting 2 T5 retrokits for my sides and angling them towards the middle. Just put 1 in last night and couldnt believe it. Then I am getting the Reefstar 250w MHs off of this site, they are like 200 shipped. Try to find them under 350 shipped anywhere else, quite a steal for those units.

 

[harris28]

Originally Posted by Sailfin Tang
Same place same everything. Couldn't find it cheaper but not for lack of trying

Mine came to 484 so unless you were estimating you beat me by 4 bucks.
Yeah I was estimating.

 

[sailfin tang]

The Aquactinics tx5 is all set up and....WOW

Thanks for your help.
The UVL Super Actinic and ATI Blue Plus on switch 1
The ATI Aqua Blue 12K, UVL AquaSun 10K and the GE 6500K on switch 2.
I have them on timers
Switch 1 8am to 9pm.
Switch 2 10am to 7pm.
The seperate lunars are on a timer 9pm to 2am.
Think that's ok or am I over doing it?

 

[harris28]

Okay I'm late on this. I am glad you like and I told you that you would not be disapointed. No your schedule looks good. my switch one come on at 10am to 10 pm. Switch 2 is on from noon to 8.
Did you notice your rocks and stuff get bubly? What lunars are you using??

 

[sailfin tang]

Yes the rocks are taking off. I recently improved my flow with a few of the hydor korelli's and that has really helped also. The lunars I picked up on the big

[hr]
site...a 48" strip with 24 led lights and a dimmer for around $50. There pretty cool.