New Tank
- Thread starter tito3054
- Start date
sk8shorty01
Active Member
If you are wanting a light that you can put anything under (any coral you want) then I dont know if you can find a fixture model that will stay under $300 bucks. You might want to look into the retro Metal Halide kits as you might be able to build your own for less than $300 although I have not actually ever done a retro kit so I could be wrong. In my opinion I would look into the TEK 6x54 T-5 light fixtures, as that would probably be fine for you tank. They are probably closer to $350 though so it might be better to wait and save another 50-100 dollars and get a really nice light.
sk8shorty01
Active Member
I think that the Odyssea 48 MH fixture with the 250 watt MH lights is far to much light for that size tank. That is 760 watts total on a 75 gallon tank, which comes out to more than 10 watts of light per gallon. I believe that the most lighting you should have on a tank (as a guideline, this is not a concrete number) is 7 watts per gallon. I think you would run the risk of bleaching corals if you were not careful.
Also, MH lighting can cause heating issues on a tank (especially that much on a small tank) so the use of a chiller would be almost a must. These lights on a tank of that size would most likely cause very large temperature swings between day and night, which is never a good thing.
Finally, MH lighting will run up your electric bill quite a bit more. They draw a lot of power throughout the day and can end up costing quite a bit in the long run.
For all of these reasons, I believe the T-5 fixtures in this case are much better off. They are a little less powerful, they run cooler, and also cost a lot less in your monthly electric bill.
This of course is just my opinion, so the reasons are up for debate.
Also, MH lighting can cause heating issues on a tank (especially that much on a small tank) so the use of a chiller would be almost a must. These lights on a tank of that size would most likely cause very large temperature swings between day and night, which is never a good thing.
Finally, MH lighting will run up your electric bill quite a bit more. They draw a lot of power throughout the day and can end up costing quite a bit in the long run.
For all of these reasons, I believe the T-5 fixtures in this case are much better off. They are a little less powerful, they run cooler, and also cost a lot less in your monthly electric bill.
This of course is just my opinion, so the reasons are up for debate.
N
ninjaskillzs
Guest
Watts per gallon is old and outdated doe to the different types of lighting and how far they penetrate. search it on the forums if you want details but its not used any more
sk8shorty01
Active Member
I know that is an outdated method, as the lumens per watt is what really matters. The watt per gallon idea was a guideline, and although it is outdated, more than doubling what was considered the norm is more than likely too much light. If you look at experiments on actual reefs, the amount of lumens that reach the reefs surface are far lower than what we are using on our aquariums. This is because with the stronger light you are able to pull more colors (and vibrant variations) from otherwise bland coral colonies. Most coral reefs have as many lumens hitting their surface as would a fish tank that is running about 1.5 watts per gallon with MH lights. Therefore I would imagine that over 10 watts per gallon would be too high. Like I said in my previous post, my opinions are that, opinions and are up for debate, I just feel that the T-5's in this case are a much better option.