Lighting

[elcid]

I have 2 sets of 50/50 coralife, 55 watt-21 inche lights. My question is if these lights are good for having a reef aquarium. I have a 55 gallon. Thanks

 

[worm]

It's all in what you want to keep. Your selection would be very limited. You can start with mushrooms and some types of polyps to get started. You can read my sig at the bottom just to give you an idea of the type of lighting I have on my 55.
good luck....
If you are looking to upgrade, check out ----. I've seen metal halide hoods starting at $50 bids. Just type in Metal Halide in your search You'll be amazed on how many hits you get.

 

[elcid]

Thank you worm. I think I did the opposite, I had bought a new canopy with new lights (I do not remember the strenght) but I can tell you that I had to clean the the glass every 3 days because it was getting all green. The old lights, which I still have, are way more powerfull than the 50/50 that I have just purchased. So basically, I will have to change the lights to what I had before. How can I avoid having to clean the glass so often, not only that, the water temp was pretty high >84 with the strong lights.
Thanks again

 

[jonthefb]

cleanign the glass every three days or so is typical tnak maintanance to just about everyone on this board. the easiest thing to do is to get a mag float scraper that you can leave in the water all the time and then you just have to scrape when needed and do heavy clean up liek once a month.
as for the heat generated by the lights, i woudl go to home depot or walmart and get a cheap pedastal or clip on oscillating fan and stand it next to the tank so that it can blow over the surface of the water, or over the sump, just so the cool air comes into contact with the water directly. this will help to stabilize water temp. i personally try to keep mine at 82-84 degrees, so this would be an optimal temp to shoot for.
good luck
jon