Lighting?

[emanon]

Hello, this is the first time I'm posting, but I've been reading all sorts of good things on this site.
My question is this:
I have a 75 gal tank that right now has a standard light fixture and bulb in it. I don't know whatever came with the tank actually. Anyway, I would love to put corals in my tank but am not sure what kind of lighting I would need. Also how much would that cost? Right now i have a yellow tang and a blue damsel and a lawnmover blemmy in my tank along with some blue foot hermit crabs and some snails. What kind of corals can I put in my tank?
Thanx for any responses.
Emanon

 

[neowind]

Hi and welcome to the board. With your 75g tank you would need to get some new lighting to support Coral life. With the stuff you got in your tank currently the lighting you have is just fine. If you want to add corals then you would want to purchase either Power Compact or Metal Halide lighting. These will run you over 300 dollars for this type of setup. It is a very expensive jump to move up to corals but its well worth it in my opinion.

 

[emanon]

Thank you for the reply I'll look into that. Um, do you have any suggestions for where to buy those types of lights? And also what size bulbs would i need?

 

[jhueb12]

Emanon, I have had the same question for a long time. I decided to go with 2 250 watt metal halide lamps with 2 55 watt power compact atinics on an 85 gallon. I will use 10K bulbs as my metal halide bulbs which give you a whitish look while the power compacts will add a blue tint. Do a search on metal halide and you'll come across a ton of useful information. Prices will vary greatly so just read up on them and try and figure out what best suits your purpose. HTH

 

[fishman622]

hey and welcome to saltwaterfish.com.

 

[jhueb12]

I"ll keep you posted. I'm running one 10K XM which i like but i'm going to buy a coralvue 12K to compare it to. I'll let you know but i'll say one thing, its a world of difference between my MH and PC