Is 96watts to much on a 12g

Caleb Kruse · #1 03/19/2007, 02:25 PM

Is a 96 watt retrofit kit on a 12g eclipse too much light for coral?

tangyreefer05 · #2 03/19/2007, 02:37 PM

Not at all. You will be able to keep some soft LPS corals.

Primeval · #3 03/19/2007, 02:54 PM

looks great on mine

sir_dudeguy · #4 03/19/2007, 03:20 PM

Not sure how big that tank is, but seeing as its only 2g more than a regular 10g, i would think its pretty close to that size, so i'll assume you are talking about the 96w quad bulbs? Heres a link to my thread about them on 10g tanks...

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1064130

Caleb Kruse · #5 03/19/2007, 07:14 PM

Why only LPS, this light would provide 8 WPG

sir_dudeguy · #6 03/19/2007, 08:31 PM

wpg means very little as far as lighting goes. Say you have a 50g tank (just using the number for a nice round number). Say this tank is 20 inches tall...you could put as many 96w pc bulbs on it as you can fit, but PC lights just dont penetrate the water good enough to get to the bottom well. The highest i'd use PC's on is like a 16" tall tank and put everything that needs lots of light at the top.

Now if you put a single MH over the same tank...say a 175w....its going to penetrate all the way to the bottom and put out a way higher PAR than the PC light will.

But since your tank is only a 12g, i'd imagine it is not that tall...maybe 12 inches tall? That should be good to grow many things all over the tank, but stuff like sps (and you couldnt even keep all of the different sps types..some need more light still) would have to be at the top area of the tank.

And like I said, I would say no to a clam and probably the same to an anemone. They need lots of light.

m1enbo1 · #7 03/19/2007, 09:26 PM

i dont like the WPG thing.. just depends on what kind of lighting and the height (imo) of the tank like sir_dudeguy said.

Dakafall · #8 03/19/2007, 09:33 PM

i wouldn't say that 96w is to much for a 12g goin' off the basis that i have ~106 w of light over my 5.5g ( 70w MH, 36w PC) what type of corals were you hoping to keep?

sir_dudeguy · #9 03/19/2007, 10:21 PM

yah, but dakafall...you have MH... Of course that is going to be way stronger than a PC, and in that thread that i started about the 96w quad bulbs, a few people claimed that they have a lower PAR than regular PC's anyways (due to the shape or whatever).

That halide is going to be getting daylight through the whole tank perfectly well since 5g tanks are not that tall (and it is MH).

kool-cat · #10 03/19/2007, 10:25 PM

96 watts is great for a 12gallon. Some people have 150watts of mh on a 10 gallon. 70 watts on a 5 gallon. Just have to watch the heat issues in the summer and the over exposure to light to corals. Acclimate corals to the new light.

Caleb Kruse · #11 03/20/2007, 12:40 AM

Thanks for the info on watts per gallon. If I kept my water stable, could I add some SPS after around a year of stability?

sir_dudeguy · #12 03/20/2007, 09:27 AM

IMO if you put them up higher you should be able to keep the sps. I just visited a guys house who had sps in a jbj nanocube (or maybe it was a biocube or whatever...didnt notice) but it was just pc lighting and he had lots of sps up higher and they were all growing good, just not the greatest color. But that was a bigger tank with less lighting....you'd have more lighting on a smaller tank, so IMO they'd be fine.

Dakafall · #13 03/22/2007, 09:08 PM

i was just kinda stating that i had a lot of light over a small tank and that i can be done

jski711 · #14 03/22/2007, 09:22 PM

i also wouldn't 100% agree with the no anemone statement. i have a 45 hex with no skimmer and 130w of pc and my gbta did phenominal under that lighting. maybe it was a fluke but it was healthy as can be and still have it 2 years later.

Mark426 · #15 03/22/2007, 09:54 PM

Here is mine .....
12 gallon Nanocube with 96 watts PC, getting close to a year now.

BLKTANG · #16 03/22/2007, 09:56 PM

I had a 150w HQI on my old 10g.Coralife clip-on light.

Jocool · #17 03/22/2007, 09:57 PM

I have a 96 watt quad Corallife over my 9 nano, yeah its abit white in color, But Im growing everything, sps, lps shrooms zoos, ok being honest My monti cap aint doing nothing but itisnt dieing.

'Just got a gorgian today and its flourshing.

So Id say, if ya want to stay away from the heat of a M/H you'll be all good to go.

sir_dudeguy · #18 03/22/2007, 11:30 PM

Quote:

'Just got a gorgian today and its flourshing.

how can you tell if a gorgonian is flourishing the under your light the day you get it?....

and caleb....how long is this tank you've got?

Jocool · #19 03/22/2007, 11:45 PM

Well, when all the yellow ( polups) spelled wrong and named wrong, anyway are sticking out reaching for food, that usually a great sign its taken straight to a tank without any shock.

Its a gorgous purple GORG, with yellow ( ). =)

Caleb Kruse · #20 03/22/2007, 11:53 PM

Sir_dudeguy, it is an eclipse 12 system, so at the longest it is 19"

sir_dudeguy · #21 03/23/2007, 12:03 AM

ok, i was just wondering cuz if it was long enough, you could do t5's if you wanted, which would grow anything...but its not long enough.

jocool...dont be so quick to assume its doing outstanding. I'm not saying its gonna die or anything like that, so PLEASE dont take that the wrong way, cuz its not what i'm going at. I'm just saying that corals can look fine the day they are placed in a tank. But then a week later they could have taken a horrible turn. Its usually best to wait a few weeks or a month before assuming it is flourishing is all i'm saying