Watts per gallon ????

[beerkegman]

Im running a 90 gallon reef tank that is set up just for soft corals at 4.3 watts per gallon. Is this enough or to much?

 

[teen]

what type of lighting?

 

[wwfstyle]

I would recommend alittle more lights per gallon. At least 5.0 wpg IMO.

 

[jessecnc]

The type of lighting here is more important than the watts. 50w flourecent, for example, over a 10gal tank isn't going to grow much more than algea at 5 watts per gallon. You can see then how W/Gal really isn't all that important, just a beginning guideline at best.
If your tank is 24" tall like my 90, you can probably get away with VHO or PC lighting for ONLY softies like shrooms and leathers. Anything that requires more light will need something else due to the depth of the tank. The depth is where the type of light makes a big difference. A single 175W MH bulb will produce more light at 24" than several hundred watts of flourecent.

 

[fanker]

jesse is right none of that wpg stuff matters anymore, it intencity. go with mh or t-5s, go with like a Tek 6-54 t-5 fixture of a mix with a mh

 

[kelly shaw]

i have read that you need 175 watts for up to 30 inches of depth. that is for mh lighting. and you need 1 bulb for every 2 feet of length. so a 55g, which is 48 inches long you will need 2 bulbs in your fixture. i agree that the wpg is nonsense. you can have a 55g tank that is an octagon and about 3 feet tall. you need more intense light to reach the bottom of the tank. personally i don't like tanks that are too deep.

 

[beerkegman]

Im running an Orbit system with 4-96 watt PC
1-actinic
1-dula day light
2-dual actinic
Everything in my tank looks awsome. I can see where you need to run MH's.

 

[beerkegman]

I seems to me that the leather dont like to be in to bright of a lighting system. The way I have the lighting set-up seems to be the best for me. I have a green toad stool in my tank that is so bright green you think you are looking at at green trafic light. my polyp extension on my leathers is out of this world. Now this set-up might be the best for me but not for some one else.

 

[beerkegman]

I think my question is:
What determins how many watts per gallon someone should have for their reef tank? :thinking:

 

[teen]

i would aim for 6-8 watts of MH per gallon so that you can keep anything. lower light corals you just place off to the sides of the tank or in caves in your rockwork.

 

[maxalmon]

Originally Posted by teen
i would aim for 6-8 watts of MH per gallon so that you can keep anything. lower light corals you just place off to the sides of the tank or in caves in your rockwork.
Well said, might as well go for the best lights you can afford, because with this hobby you never know what your going to want next. The wpg thing is kinda overrated but it's a good starting point. Originally I was going to go with VHO setup, but decided to go for the 250MH with 4x96actinics for all my tanks. Good thing I did, because I just got 2 croceas, electric blue and a green along with a blue carpet anemone

 

[beerkegman]

I went with MH's on my tank and I think know i know im getting better results with my soft corals using the PC's. Some times I think depending on the corals you want to keep in you tank MH's are OK. Now for me im a soft coral guy and the PC's work out great. I also know alot of reef keepers who are keeping some awsome SPS pieces in their tanks using PC's.

 

[murph]

Originally Posted by beerkegman
Im running an Orbit system with 4-96 watt PC
1-actinic
1-dual day light
2-dual actinic
Everything in my tank looks awesome. I can see where you need to run MH's.
You don't need MH. IMO your lighting scheme is fine for what you are wanting to keep.

 

[beerkegman]

Thanks Murphy
I will try to post some pictures today of my tank. Its kind of hard to get nice picture beings I have so much actinic on my tank.