need help with current lighting and maybe more

[powdertoastman]

i dont have have like $200 - 400 to spend on a VHO or PC lighting set, so what i did is went to lowes hardware and got a 48" 2 bulb strip and 2 40w lights for it, now i know the cheap lights arnt good enough, but would it be fine if i got 2 40w 10k bulbs and put them in? i also have another single bulb 48" strip with the other one, planing on getting another 2 bulb one and getting rid of the single, also will put 2 40w 10k bulbs in it, so would the 4 - 40w 10k's be good enough for starting a feef tank? all that is in there right now is fish and about 70#'s of rock, some crabs, snails, 2 shirmp and 2 starfish, and whatever else is hiding in there i still dont know about, tank is almost 5 months old. any tips for a VERY cheap lighting set up would be great, im disabled, so very little money to spend, TIA.

 

[spsfreak100]

Normal ouput lighting is not going to get you far.
but would it be fine if i got 2 40w 10k bulbs and put them in? i also have another single bulb 48" strip with the other one, planing on getting another 2 bulb one and getting rid of the single, also will put 2 40w 10k bulbs in it, so would the 4 - 40w 10k's be good enough for starting a feef tank?
No. That lighting wouldn't even be good enough for some of the lower-light mushrooms and zoanthids, if you wanted them to thrive.
Lighting is really not something that you want to cut corners with. Lighting is one of the most important factors when keeping a reef. There's really no effective way to go as cheap as you can when it comes to lighting. I would recommend saving up $500.00 to spend on some suitible lighting. You may even get away with $300.00-$400.00 for some of the less expensive setups. You may want to purchase some power compact lighting, or possibly 4x 110wt URI VHO's on an Icecap 660 ballast. That whole setup should cost you around $400.00. It is expensive, but it's worth it. You will not be able to keep anything with normal output lighting you have. It really wouldn't matter how many bulbs you have over the tank, as you would still be greatly lacking intensity.
I would highly recommend returning the bulbs and saving up to buy VHO's or Power compacts, or even metal halides, depending on what you plan to be keeping in the future. I do completely agree that it is expensive, but it'll be worth it in the long run
Take Care,
Graham

 

[powdertoastman]

ok, after some looking around on the net to some sites, here is what ive found, for $265 there is a 48" 4 - 65w bulb PC system, comes out to 260w, and has a moon light, would that be enough light? here is a pic to show you what im talking about, sorry bout noob questions here, but i dont know much about lighting, and if i can find a good deal i would like to know, TIA.

 

[spsfreak100]

That looks fine to me. What are you planning on keeping?
Graham

 

[powdertoastman]

well we have a pair of percs, so at some point we want to get an anni, (dont know how to spell it so im not even going to try lol) for them to host in, and my wife has always loved the bubble coral, but gunna wait on that stuff for a while, till we know more about the, but for maybe some pollups, we had a few that came on in our lr when we set the tank up, so might just get a frag of them to add to the bunch.

 

[leviwin]

Here is a good site to look at for questions on lighting. I know you all might not agree with it but they raise all types of corals under 4 normal output 40 w floresent lights. I've seen lot of tanks with zoos, mushrooms, leathers, star polyps and other types of coral. here the site hope it helps out
http://www.garf.org/

 

[spsfreak100]

well we have a pair of percs, so at some point we want to get an anni, (dont know how to spell it so im not even going to try lol) for them to host in,
If you want something for your clowns to host in, I would recommend a Toadstool leather (Sarcophyton sp.) for your clownfish. These will make perfect hosts for the clownfish, and often will resemble an Anemone. Many other types of leathers including the Devils Hand (Lobophytum sp.), Spaghetti Leather (Sinularia flexibis) and Finger Leather (Sinularia sp.) will also work fine.
Other good hosts include the Colt coral (Cladiella sp., or, Alcyonium sp.), Kenya Tree (Capnella sp.-should be added to a mature aquarium), Alveopora (Alveopora sp.), Torch Coral (Euphyllia glabrescens), Hammar Coral (Euphyllia ancora), Bubble Coral (Plerogyra sp.), Green Star Polyps (Pachyclavularia sp.), Xenia (Xenia sp.?), Frogspawn (Euphyllia sp.), etc.
There were many I never meantioned, only due to the care level required for them, and the difficulty of keeping them sucessfully alive. Some of these include the Flowerpot (Goniopora sp.), Plate Coral (Heliofungia Actiniformis), and Elegance (Catalaphyllia sp.) to name a few.
Graham

 

[powdertoastman]

ok i went out and got the best i could with the money i have, running 160w now, 4 bulbs, 1 actinic, 1 20k deep water bulb, and 2 trichromatic 10k bulbs (the guy at the lfs said that is a good one), so thats what im running now, and there is a TON of light in there, WAYYYY more then with what i had yesterday, very nice looking now, makes all the fish just glow it seems. ill get a pic of the setup later and post it.