Which Type Of Lighting For Reef Tank?

tmoney

tmoney

Member
Ok so I am getting my friends 55Gal tank in a week, he has freshwater in it right now. I am planning on turning it into a reef tank. My friend has been pointing out good lights to use, but they are all $200+. I don't want to spend that much for lighting because it's rediculous for me as I'm 16 and I only have a part time job, and have a 30Gal saltwater tank right now.
Does anyone know of high output strip lights, etc, that have good quality light? I'm looking at the All-Glass High Output Compact's and they seem to be pretty decent in price. Do I need to get different bulbs for it or are the ones it comes with fine?
Also, my friend said I should NOT be using any sort of carbon in my filter on any saltwater tank, but I have been in my 30Gal. He has a 210Gal and he said he has never used carbon in it and his does look amazing.
Any help appreciated!
 
blemmy_guy

blemmy_guy

Active Member
Man youve asked a mouthfull! you could get by with Power Compacts, but would be better off with metal halides. And for that matter you could even get by with actinics alone. i do in one of my tanks. but you would be limited on what you could keep in the tank. And as far as the no carbon goes.Yes its probly better in the long run to go with out it, much better actually, but theres a lot of people who use carbon filters too!! Didnt help much did i ??? todd
 
pbienkiewi

pbienkiewi

Member
with my 55gal, I do not use carbon. My water is nice and clear. As for finding decent lighting for around $200. good luck. maybe T5's I currently have 4 65 watt bulbs making. 260 total wats. 260 watts divided by 55gal = 4.72 watts per gallon. I have mushrooms, xenias, zoos, and a anemone. I am going to upgrade my lighting with MH. This will improve everything, especially the coral growth.
do a yahoo search for my friend ****. he should help you with T5 lighting
 
tmoney

tmoney

Member
Well my friend and I have been looking around and we think we found a pretty good deal. What do you guys think of the Odyssea Compact Fluorescent Dual Strip 48" 260W? It comes with 2x12,000K daylight, 2xactinic blue and 4 night LED's. Is 12,000K okay or is it a little weak? All in all for $120...
 
tim_12

tim_12

Member
Do you have everything else covered? Live sand? Live rock? Skimmer? Reef tanks can be very expensive. I have a 46g and I've already spent $2500 on it getting ready for a reef. I dont want to question you, I'm just concerned for you.
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
Lighting is the most expensive part about the reefer hobby. Do yourself a favor and save up until you can afford metal halide. I know, I know everyone lynch me... but you know I'm right
 
fedukeford

fedukeford

Active Member
i just got the light that u mentiond the 260 watt PC on ---- ( dont know if this counts as selling stuff in the same hobby) for only $100
 
hurt

hurt

Active Member
Do yourself a favor and save up until you can afford metal halide.
I could not agree more with this statement. At first I bought a 260w pc fixture for my tank. After I realized how limited I was with what I wanted to keep, I had to make the upgrade to MH. Not to say that pc is a bad light source, it just is not as strong as MH and therefore will limit some corals/clams/anenomes you can keep. If you just want to keep softies and most LPS you will be alright with pc. Myself, I wanted SPS, clams, anenomes-therefore I upgraded to MH. I just wish I would bought MH from the get-go, if you know you won't want any other corals than softies and LPS, by pc.
 
shoorty069

shoorty069

Member
Where did everyone get their metal halide lights? Im planning on getting something along the lines of that. I have a 55 gallon tank with just basic light fixtures with coralife bulbs, nothing to fancy at all, theyre quite low wattage, but they have 10000k (not sure what that is either...). Im looking at getting some anemones and some different corals and it would be cool to see stuff like that come out of my live rock, because ive heard certain things only grow out of it with high wattage lights.
<3ryry
 
tmoney

tmoney

Member
Man, I'd get MH but they are so expensive! Anyone know of a good website where I can get some prices on MH?
 
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