Will This Do?

eugenez_21

eugenez_21

Member
I have a 48" 75g tank. For my lighting i was told that two 10,000k , 32W light bulbs will do for most corals and anenomes by my LFS, and on the cover it sayes "Promotes the growth of zoocanthellae algae, essential for the growth and well being of all photosynthetic corals and invertebrates." Just want a 3rd opinion before buying. The brand was Zoo-Med Aquatic, I m thinking that will do.
 
reefforbrains

reefforbrains

Active Member
Yes they are correct spectum and they are a good product, but WAY low on output and intensity. Your photosenthetic corals would stave on such a small amount.
Might get away with some Zoo and mushrooms, but certainly not long term if your interested in coral.
 
sharkbait9

sharkbait9

Active Member
Originally Posted by eugenez_21
Will that be ok for any anenemes carpets ,bubletip
What more whod i need 20,000k +

[hr]
No your off base. Carpets and BTA or any anemone need strong lighting.
Anyway read on...
watts are strength of bulb, the K rating (Kelvin) is color temp, temp meaning color. The higher the “K” rating the bluer the bulb I.E. 10,000k is a yellow hue a 20,000k is a blue hue
See pics for an idea.
For high light demanding coral or inverts most keepers will go with metal halide lighting.
Also……………………
The watts per gallon rule is *general rule* or gauge.
For unlimited coral/inverts one can keep should aim between 5-7 watts per gallon. Meaning tank size by number of watts (?). Example 55 gallon tank X 5 watts per gallon would be 275 watts of light.
One can achieve this wattage with T lighting, compact, or metal halide. User/keepers choice. Again most go with metal halide.
First thing to decide is……to decide what species/ genus they plan to house. The hobby has made it relatively simple when it comes to habitant keeping.
No light coral
Low light coral
Medium light coral
High light coral
When you decide what coral you want to keep you base your lights off those decisions.
A lot of keepers choose to go with metal halide lights, why? Because they are not limited to coral/inverts species they can keep.
While yes you can achieve the same WPG with “T” bulbs there is the pros and cons, same with Mh lights.
If you wanted to not be bound to certain coral then 5-7 watts will suite your every need and desire. You just need to decide what and how your are going to achieve those watts.
To “measure” lights that suite your tank ,you are getting into a heck of a mathematic headache.
Watts per gallon is the simplest terms and the most easy way to figure it out.
For metal halides you will need 1 pendant for every two feet of tank. I.e 48 inch tank would need two pendants.
For depth
18inches deep needs on or about 175 watts.
Up to 24 inches deep 250 watts.
These are some of the “general rules” you will see often enough.
See pics for examples of color scale and par


 
eugenez_21

eugenez_21

Member
Each of the bulbs i have just say 32W on them so i only have 64Ws all together and i need 75times5 = 375W so i need 2 Metal Halids pendants "bulbs, sections" please see if i understood right and a shopping list would be very usefull
 
sharkbait9

sharkbait9

Active Member
Originally Posted by eugenez_21
Each of the bulbs i have just say 32W on them so i only have 64Ws all together and i need 75times5 = 375W so i need 2 Metal Halids pendants "bulbs, sections" please see if i understood right and a shopping list would be very usefull
Yeah your on track now. You have a total of 64 watts. When I ran my 75 gallon I had 2 150 watt Mh lights for a total of 300 watts of Mh lights. I also ran two 48 inch vho actinic 03 bulbs at 110 watts a piece. That got me a total of 520 watts of lights broken down to 6.9 watts of light.
I was able to keep anything my heart desired.
With that much light I did run into heat issues in my water, that was taken care of with a desk fan pointed across the water surface to cool the tank down.
Shoot me an email @ rzuko94 at opt online.net and I can tell you were to get your kits from. If need be.
 
eugenez_21

eugenez_21

Member
Ok send u my email. Also my lighting bracket the thing i put the bulbs in, will it hold any of these lights i need the metal halides or T5s of something that would get me to 300W s?
It came with my tank so the brand i think is All-Glass Aquariums and 64W its handling well .
 
eugenez_21

eugenez_21

Member
Ok i did some searching and decided to go with a PFO 4 Buld VHO Retrofis Kit for 2-4 foot. That would be 4 bulbs at 110w apiece. Now i need to make sure what bulbs would do best for me. Im looking into these bulbs here, but not to sure which combination is the best:
VHO AquaSun (10,000k)110W
VHO AquaActinic (Blue Spectrum)140W
VHO Actinic White (12,000k) 110W, 50% actinic 03 blue phosphors and 50% white spectum(triband)
Any advice for bulbs Will be very helpfull.
 
reefforbrains

reefforbrains

Active Member
its up to you for what you like,
Lower K is more Yellow, while higher K is blue tint to the eye.
Higher K, Slower growth, but less algea and yields better colors from fish and coral. Opposite is true of Lower K bulbs.
Just go with two 50/50 bulbs and knock yourself out with softies and LPS
 
sharkbait9

sharkbait9

Active Member
Originally Posted by eugenez_21
also do coral and anenomes need a night light, also what are some good night light that some of u guys have?
:scared: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
This question comes up time and time again.
Its a constant debate over moon lights, whether they do something or do nothing.
All my tanks have moon led’s, why??? Really cause I liked the way they looked and figured 55 dollars for the DIY kits seemed like a good way to blow money on my tanks and get into a “your addicted to reef keeping” arguments with my fiancé.
The principle or concept behind he moon lights or “night lights” are to stimulate breeding and other “natural light” conditions. But a couple of things are lacking. A big example would be the gravitational pull of the earth and moon.
That’s not to say that moonlights don’t encourage mating, i don't know. I have nothing to base an argument over moonlights being a positive, other then the noons make my tank look nice and "spacey' at night.
My matted pairs of maroons, cleaner shrimp, and orange spotted gobies and my pajama cardinals all breed. All mating happed prior to the addition of moon lights.
I have not noticed an increase of breeding since the addition of moonlights.
In my opinion, the whole moonlight theory is correct in the wide open ocean, but not feasible right now in the home aquarium.
 
eugenez_21

eugenez_21

Member
i have been told that a mag would be a great pump to pump water bact to my dt. how many gph do i need for a 75g tank.
 
sharkbait9

sharkbait9

Active Member
Originally Posted by eugenez_21
what are some of those DIYs u did. Because Some of the market light cost some money!!!!

When it comes to lights (or anything in life) do it right once and only once.
Save your money and buy the right lights. You can keep buying lights till you get the light set up you want and in the end you have paid way more to get to the point your happy and your tank inhabitants are happy.
Words of wisdom for you to think about.
My tank, I personally use the ice cap spider reflector kits on my tanks. I have switched out all my lights for the spider set ups.
I personally think, feel and recorded better light penetration better growth and more vivid colors with the spider set up running 12.5k bulbs. My ballast are not running has hot and I noticed a drop in monthly electricity cost.
On my old 75 gallon I ran the coralife/ESU aqua light pro. A good light system all around but very ugly. Could not put my canopy over the unit. IMO it took away from the tank making the whole tank in general look not complete.
That is just my feeling about he system itself on general aesthetics. The system running? The system ran great, nice light spread and output, quite somewhat cool running ballast. Over all a good quality light system.
If you look around the web you can find a trader site that sells an “odyssea metal halide system”.
Now I say this with all fact finding and seeing it first hand with my friends system and coming up with one conclusion.
It’s the same system with a no frills name. My friend bought this system just shy of a year now. On a side by side comparison it’s the same system as the coralife/Esu aqua light pro, just no coralife name stickers or tags. Same housing body, same fan placement same sleeve for mounting brackets (feet or hanging) everything.
We took both apart (my,coralife and his odyssey) everything was the same internally and externally. Placement of internal ballast size of uv glass right down to screw holes and screws themselves.
The only difference we found were the bulbs, the odysea. Came with 4 CFL and the coralife came with 2 CFL. The bulbs appear to be generic and a cheap easy way to complete the setup.
We set up the odyssey lights over his tank and used my lux meter. From first ignition of the bulbs to 101 hours of use (typical break in period for bulbs) we recorded only a minor increase. Swapped out bulbs and after 101 hours for break in we recorded a big difference, 22 points to 66, a big difference when it comes to output and light value.
Some people swear the odyssey lights are garbage and will burn your house down, even my self am guilty of that thought. If you do a search you will find a lot of keepers use the odyssey system with out a problem and love them.
My friend is my living proof thus far.
It all boiled down to the welfare of your inhabitants after that, it’s money and how you look at things.
My tanks are my center of attention in my house, they are “that one spectacular thing” that family and friend sit/stand by and gaze for hours, in essence they are my kids.
I want/need my tanks to be complete, canopy, stand for me, everything else is for the co-inhabitants.
Anyone can help point you in the right direction and help out with life’s painful and expensive lessons, you need to choose to heed that advice or go it alone.
Now why did I just waste all this time writing about the odyssey light system? To give you an idea of what’s out their.
If you want a canopy to complete the tank system forget the housed light systems and go with retro kits. If not look at the housed systems.
If you ever want to get a canopy well that’s more money shot down the drain.
 
sharkbait9

sharkbait9

Active Member
Originally Posted by eugenez_21
i have been told that a mag would be a great pump to pump water bact to my dt. how many gph do i need for a 75g tank.
To answer that you would need to know how much water is being drained out of your tank.
To ease your mind about the pump? Yes mags are a great submersible pump.
Quite, very little maintenance, give off some heat but a all around good pump.
You want to match pump to drain. A hard task to get a 100% match. I.e. My 265 gallon tank is 1200 GPH
I have one mag 12 pushing water from my sump up to the tank.
That’s does not give me enough water movement so I have a closed loop system to complete the 15x water turn over rate I want/need.
You can use a bigger pump and put a ball/gate valve to slow the water down to match your drain rate but a pain in the butt to get a good match, at least IMO.
Head pressure and length, friction, ID of pipe all play a roll in how much water pressure is lost.
Again this is something you need to post detailed question for anyone to give a good quality answer to.
What type of drains, pre drilled tank, what size, are you using a CPR system/HOB skimmer box.
Only then will be able to help.
 
eugenez_21

eugenez_21

Member
i have not decided yet how much is being drained. What would be a good speed to move the water for me. 75 times 15 = would equal 1125 gph.
 
sharkbait9

sharkbait9

Active Member
Originally Posted by eugenez_21
i have not decided yet how much is being drained. What would be a good speed to move the water for me. 75 times 15 = would equal 1125 gph.
If your going this route, then get your self a 1200 gph overflow skimmer box and a mag 12 pump.
with friction and head pressure you will lose some of the pumps GPH. For "turn over rate" you can do a closed loop or use power heads to get your 15X T.O.R.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top