what can i keep with the lighting i have?

powdertoastman

powdertoastman

Member
i just upgraded my lighting on my 55g. now have 2 40w trichmatic bulbs, 1 blue actinic 40w, and 1 40w 20k bulb, the tank is VERY bright now, i mean almost blinding bright. so what types of corals and other reef stuff would do ok in there? i dont want to get something that wont live long, just wanted to make sure before i start looking around to buy stuff. TIA
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
You can keep low light soft corals, sponges. As long as you have NO lighting, you can put a 100 lamps on, and it will still be low light. Nothing wrong with that. A lot of lower light stuff are beautiful.
 
powdertoastman

powdertoastman

Member
ok, what are some low light corals that would work in my tank? also how would a anemone do if well feed? i was told at lfs that with that light and a good diet one should be fine.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Absolutely no anemones. They require high light and they really should only be kept by advanced aquarist as they have a high mortality in captivity.
You can keep ricoridias, mushrooms, zoos, polyps. Get Julian Sprung's Corals, A Quick Reference Guide. There is a general index for each coral featured in that book that gives a light range for the species. Bottom line, though. NOs are not reef lights. If you want to keep a reef, you will need to upgrade your lighting.
 
aileena

aileena

Member
I agree with Beth...
I know that you already bought these new lights and you probably do not want to spend any more $$$ but if you want to get lighting that will allow you to keep almost anything and looks great get VHO lighting....
you can get a ballast on ---- for much cheaper than anywhere else. you would want the ICECAP 660 ballast...some people use other ballasts like workhorse etc. but I have only ever used icecap...make sure the ballast comes with the wiring harness too, they are supposed to. look around for the best price, I bought a used one and it still has a 1yr manufacturers warranty...
then you would have to get the endcaps and mounting plates!!! sometimes you can get these on ---- too pretty cheap...keep looking, I got mine from the pet store and paid 2 or 3 times as much as they would have cost on ----...you would get 8 endcaps that would give you 4 bulbs....2 white and 2 blue...thats over 440 watts on the 660 ballast...the ballast contains an easy to use wiring diagram too...
then get some 46.5" bulbs and mount all the stuff in a nice wooden canopy and your rockin!!!
IMO in a 55g with 440watts of vho you could keep anything...even a clam in my opinion because the tank is only 20" tall and probably 3-4" is used up by substrate...my tank is way too tall for clams its like 24" and 4 inch of substrate...the shorter the tank the better...your lighting will go a lot farther....my tank would need MH to penetrate that deep of water...and I don't want mh lights and vho's and a enormous electric bill
 
powdertoastman

powdertoastman

Member
ok well then in that case looks like im not going to be starting a reef, ill never have the money for lighting, thanks for the info.
 
col

col

Active Member
Have a look at my last few posts. I have 100W NO lighting in a 42gallon.
Tries mushrooms and polyps, they are struggling now. Still trying to find out why, finger is pointing at lighting at moment.
 
aileena

aileena

Member
I would say that most mushrooms and yellow polyps and star polyps would do fine under enough NO lighting...just keep em towards the top of the tank...
just because you do not have vho's pcs or mhs doesnt mean you cannot keep a reef...your just limited to the corals that you can keep to softies and some polyp corals...
 
worldchanger

worldchanger

Member
You should look on e-bay for some metal halides. I just got 2 - 175 Watt 2000K Bulbs, wiring, balast, and reflectors that is really nice for $200.00 which totals 350 Watts plus I have 2- 110 Watt VHO Actenic White that totals 570 watts for my 55 gal.
Anywhere else this cost about $500 - 600.00.
 
aileena

aileena

Member
how are you going to fit all of that in a 12" canopy I wonder?
Can you post a pic of your canopy when you get a chance? I have 4 vho bulbs on my canopy now and they barely fit...its like tip nuck if you know what I mean....
 
me-n-my-fish

me-n-my-fish

Member
This was when i had 4 NO 40 watt 10k's and 2 175 watt MH 10ks. The NO's have been replaced with VHO, but in the same spot. It is tight, but bright:cool:
 
worldchanger

worldchanger

Member
I dont have a picture but basically I built one out of plywood that is 48"L x 13"H x 18"W mounted the VHO's first then the halides it was a good fit and I could fit more in if I want. These dimensions worked for leaving my halides about 10" off the water so it won't cook my tank
 
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