55g Lighting

[BiG_KiD]

I was curious about what recomendations you would make as far as mh.. on a 55g I am running a 2x65 smartlight right now and I know it's not enough I would like to change to a better more powerful system, and I don't wanna ever deal with the fealing of not having enough light..I am sooo mad I got this fixture.. IF only I had known about reefcentral first.. any while I am on the topic when i first got my tank going I had only 2x15 watt no flourescents.. I added my live rock and had it in my tank for probally about 4 months before i got my current light.. In your opinion do u think that my LR lost all chance of giving my any life due to lack of light?.. I haven't seen anything but a couple of sponges grow off my rock.. I am thinking about trading in some of my rock to lfs and ordering some new LR thinking that I might fair better with growth off of the LR with my current lighting..

[lllosingit]

The lighting needs of your tank are going to depend on what you plan on keeping in it ?
If its just soft corals and mushrooms and such then a good VHO setup will do.
If you want to keep SPS and other light loving corals and clams then I would go with 2x 175 Mh with VHO actinics.
You may run into some heat problems with the Mh VHO combo but with a good hood design and a couple fans you should be Ok.
If you go with 250 or 400 Watt Mh then you'll most likely need a chiller or a very cool room to keep the tank in.

The question about the rock is a tough one to answer.
Yes the low light probably cost you some life 0n the rock but if your going to add corals the life you lost won't really matter that much.
Its still live rock and will still have all the filtration capabilities that it had when you bought it.

[FunkieReefJunkie]

Your rock should be good to go. In fact the lack of bright lighting may have encouraged good coralline algae development. Especially if you have been supplementing calcium. If you haven't anything living in your tank throw in a little fish, shrimp, scallops, whathaveyou every so often to keep the amphipod, copepod, micro brittle stars etc population up. Save your money for your new lighting!

Can't help you in the metal halide department. I do a have 55 gallon with 3 96 w PC's maintaining several sps... just to let you know it's very doable.

[FunkieReefJunkie]

Wanted to let you know... I had a 30 gallon tank full of live rock which sat there for about four months (because of a family crisis) with inadequate lighting as well and no feeding. Somehow all the little critters managed to stay alive... resilient little buggers