power compact bulbs on mini reef

laineym1

laineym1

New Member
hello! my name is trish and i am new to this board. i have set up a 36gallon bowfront recently and am wanting to start a mini reef tank. i have already cycled the tank and have my first inhabitant.....a sebae clown fish. i cycled my tank without fish.
i have 55 lbs of live rock in it and am running two emperor 280 filters. i have 2 maxijet 600 powerheads running and a Odyssea PS 75 protien skimmer. i bought a power compact light fixture that has 2 65watt bulbs in it. i have a 12000k and the other is 50/50 7500k and actinic 03. this set also has 4 moon led lights too.
question ....is this enough light for the tank? i want to keep one anemone, some zoos (my favs), and not sure what else i want....still looking around. i want a lot of color.
i hear mixed results with pc's and just wanted everyone's honest opinion. if anyone has pics of their tanks with pc's running......please post them!

i know metal halides would be the best but i am really not wanting to spend that much money on a little tank.
i would be willing to make my own, just not sure on how to start that...lol
any input would be greatly appreciated!
 
laineym1

laineym1

New Member
tank looks good! Here are the pics i have of mine..I did get an anemone and so far he looks fine. why do you say no anemones in the tank with pc's?



 
derekc

derekc

Member
i have that exact same anemone in my tank with 216W of PC and have had it for 3 months now....i think he will be fine..proper water conditions and fed...mine has been excellent swelled huge allll day long night time looks like a huge water drop all tucked in but perfectly healthy...nice anemone!!
 
laineym1

laineym1

New Member
looks good so far. it has moved around quite a bit, but i think it found where it wanted to be so i'm just gonna leave him there. Does any one have any pics of some really nice corals that i will "be able" to put in there with these lights? also, if i wanted to switch to a metal halide (i'm still debating whether or not i want to spend that on this little tank) what wattage would be best for this tank? what kind of bulb?
does anyone have a design to make a metal halide lamp fixture that is inexpensive? (i have to 400 watt metal halide ballasts, got a great deal on them brand new. i was gonna save them for my big tank.......)
 
laineym1

laineym1

New Member
Is there any way to put a higher wattage pc bulb in my light fixture? i think hte next wattage is 96watts? that would give me 192 watts on the tank. would i have to get a new ballast?
 
stumpyfish

stumpyfish

Member
Originally Posted by laineym1
Is there any way to put a higher wattage pc bulb in my light fixture? i think hte next wattage is 96watts? that would give me 192 watts on the tank. would i have to get a new ballast?
I was just asking this question
I want to upgrade the lights on my 40 to 96 watt bulbs but was told the ballast wouldnt be able to handle it. bummer huh
 
laineym1

laineym1

New Member
ok.....so the ballast wont handle the wattage.......could i replace the ballast with a different one?
 
larry broderic

larry broderic

Member
im building a 150 watt metal halide for my 30 gallon and its actually not to expensive. i spent 45 on a new ballast capacitor and starter and then 60 on the bulb and 30 on a reflector. so for 135 bucks i made a brand new metal halide set up. anenomies are tough to keep under pcs. i had them before under pcs and they would do great for 4-5 months then they would start to look bad and the next day they would be dead and so would everythign else in the tank. im gonna try one in my 30 gallon with the metal halide. hopefully it should be good. keep the power compacts and turn them into actinic lights. then get a 10 k metal halide. unfortionately i doubt your anenomie will live under the pcs and when he dies he'll kill everything else thats in the tank. if you want to know where i got all my stuff from ill have to email it to you cause its websites. my email is broderickl@franklinpierce.edu good luck with the tank 36 bows are beautiful.
 
E

emeralcrab

Guest
I have a sebae anemone in my 30q, 130W PC, this sebae was white when I got it 2 yrs ago, and about the size of a small saucer when open. It is now WAY bigger then a big dinner plate, a wonderful shade of brown with purple tips. Very healthy and happy with my black clown hosting it. It is huge.
But I also have one in my 55g, bought about the same time from my LFS, it has not changed, still white, very small, 390w PC, dont know why the one in the 30 is doing so well and the other not. Oh well, maybe some just adjust better then others. I would like to upgrade lighting on 30g, but not taking a chance when everything is working for me there.
Looking to upgrade lights on my 150 first so I can have corals in there. That will be my next $$$$.
 
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