Quick Lighting question.....

[J-Hook]

I have this lighting (http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=243) on a 30 gallon potential reef tank (still got to buy lots more live rock first....) Is this lighting (http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=243) sufficient for a reef tank? or will i be upgrading sometime soon? lol..... I have been told it'll be ok for Anemones and some hard corals. Just dont want to kill anything...

[ksquared]

Short answer: I think you'll be okay.

It's difficult to tell exactly without actual lux measurements because your tank dimensions and contents enter into the equation. In addition, "reef aquarium" casts a pretty broad net in terms of potential inhabitants.

Lots of people rightfully scoff at the watts per gallon metric, but as a rule of thumb, your value of over 4 watts per gallon should be fine for anemones and some other animals.

It won't be nearly enough for acropora, clams, and other high-intensity light animals.

We recently tried a lighting experiment using 5 Lights of America 65 watt compact fluorescent lamps from Home Depot with color correction on our 185 gal. reef tank. The experiment failed miserably, but none of our corals died...they just looked like they had Seasonal Affective Disorder, like people spending a winter in Oregon. When we went back to our original lighting (around 4 watts per gallon), and everything perked back up.

So keep a watchful eye on your animals. If one of your animals looks like it's getting SAD, try moving it higher in the tank.

[tigersax7]

the light type and size should be ok for most corals..........but buyer beware I once ordered a similar PC setup through that same company, the light arived on time but both bulbs were broken...I trted to contact the company to have them replaced since they were broken in shipping...but the 1-800 number took me streaght to voice mail and i never recived a responce through email...... so a month later I had to pony up $115 to replace two 96w PC bulbs in my "New" light. My advise is to try and find a "Curent USA" or "Coral Life" PC set up that is similar, trust me it is beter to do it right the first time.... in my case my attempt at saving a few dollars was this

Odesey twin 96W PC =$189
replacing the brocken Bulbs =$115
Total =$304

Cost of new Twin 96W "Coral life PC" =$250 (at the time)

Hope this helps.....

Jason

[GreenUku]

I am running a 2x65W PC Current USA fixture on my 15 gallon. My corals are growing fine, though the color is not what I'd like in the SPS (all montiopora in my case). So yes, you can grow corals with that. Softies are probably fine. I don't know about anemones or acros and the like.

As a side note, I think AquaTraders has gotten a lot of bad reviews. You might want to do a search on them.

[asfullax]

I agree, what you have should be ok for most corals. for and LPS, just make sure you feed a LITTLE bit more, and you may need to have a bit longer ON cycle, that what we have had to do in the past. If you ever upgrade, I would look into the T5's. many people have had very good luck with just about any coral and the bulbs are much cheaper in the long run. :)

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8633410#post8633410 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by J-Hook
I have this lighting (http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=243) on a 30 gallon potential reef tank (still got to buy lots more live rock first....) Is this lighting (http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=243) sufficient for a reef tank? or will i be upgrading sometime soon? lol..... I have been told it'll be ok for Anemones and some hard corals. Just dont want to kill anything...