I have a 75 gallon FOWLR tank, but i am considering converting to a reef tank. I have been searching for lighting. I looked at some reef requirement charts and i have becom interested in the Coralife lunar aqualight. It is a pc that is 4x96 watt at 48 inches. That would make it a total of 384 watts. Which gives my tank roughly 5 watts per gallon of water. Should i consider this lighting system. If so what types of corals would it house. Also i now have about 100 watts of standard fluorescent light could that also be used in juction with the new lighting system to make it 484 or not. Oh the coralife lighting has 2x96 flourescent and 2x96 actinic lighting with a LED glow light. All imput would be greatly appreciated.
Lighting for my Tank
- Thread starter draza88
- Start date
The power compacts would be alright but they arent ideal at all. They dont put out nearly the PAR(photosynthetic active radiation basically the usable light) that a similar t5 fixture would put out. Not only that but the bulbs arent as easy to find and are more expensive that t5's. Basically they are old technology. You would be better off getting say a nova extreme or TEK four bulb fixture. The PC's would allow you to keep callimorphs, zoathids, softies and some lps I would say. Anenome's SPS and clams would be an unrealistic goal.
chipmunkofdoom2
Well-Known Member
Watts per gallon is probably one of the most worthless measurements of light output. Look for quality over quantity. T5, LED and MH are really the best as far as intensity and quality of light.
Ditto to COD!
Watts per gallon was "ok" at best many years ago when working with only ONE type of lighting. Now we have many choices in addition to the fact that we now have coral available that needs MUCH more intense light (some LPS, SPS, Clams, Anemone etc).
For example... I was running a very shallow tank (the deeper the tank the more INTENSE the light needs to be) and I had 13 watts per gallon. That's NOT a typo. It was a shallow 10g tank with 2x65w PC bulbs. 130w total but still JUST pc. I tried an anemone and it seemed to do ok for a few months. Then almost over night it dwindled and expired. Come to find out PC lights aren't sufficient even if they are over powered for the tank.
Don't get me wrong.. you can keep SOME corals with PC but you're VERY limited especially with your size tank. Do yourself a HUGE favor and take some time to investigate QUALITY T5 systems or stronger. Remember that one place where you usually "Get what you pay for" is with lighting. You get a cheap buy you'll most likely get CHEAP lights! Save and get QUALITY lights. I bought cheap for my tank 4x over. Talk about NOT saving money!!
If you do opt for T5's you'll want as many bulbs as you can pack over the tank (I believe 6 is MAX over a 75g) with true Individual Reflectors (IDR). Some companies are using a term "Individually CONTOURED reflector" trying to make you think you're getting a single reflector per bulb. NOT the case. It's one large sheet vaguely shaped to resemble IDR.
Save and get quality lights and you'll be better off for the long run.
Watts per gallon was "ok" at best many years ago when working with only ONE type of lighting. Now we have many choices in addition to the fact that we now have coral available that needs MUCH more intense light (some LPS, SPS, Clams, Anemone etc).
For example... I was running a very shallow tank (the deeper the tank the more INTENSE the light needs to be) and I had 13 watts per gallon. That's NOT a typo. It was a shallow 10g tank with 2x65w PC bulbs. 130w total but still JUST pc. I tried an anemone and it seemed to do ok for a few months. Then almost over night it dwindled and expired. Come to find out PC lights aren't sufficient even if they are over powered for the tank.
Don't get me wrong.. you can keep SOME corals with PC but you're VERY limited especially with your size tank. Do yourself a HUGE favor and take some time to investigate QUALITY T5 systems or stronger. Remember that one place where you usually "Get what you pay for" is with lighting. You get a cheap buy you'll most likely get CHEAP lights! Save and get QUALITY lights. I bought cheap for my tank 4x over. Talk about NOT saving money!!
If you do opt for T5's you'll want as many bulbs as you can pack over the tank (I believe 6 is MAX over a 75g) with true Individual Reflectors (IDR). Some companies are using a term "Individually CONTOURED reflector" trying to make you think you're getting a single reflector per bulb. NOT the case. It's one large sheet vaguely shaped to resemble IDR.
Save and get quality lights and you'll be better off for the long run.