question about lighting for a 5.5 gallon

[Don_Gnomio]

hey everyone

slowly but shurely i am pieceing together a 5.5 gallon tank for my room and i already have the tank and my next step is lights

i was thinkig of makeing my own hood and was wondering if these lights are enough for some softies, lps, and maybe sps

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=11382&Ntt=coralife&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1

thanx

Victor

[fella1320]

no that wont be enough light for sps and mabey not lps i have a 5.5 as well what i did was bought a piece of baseboard and cut it at an angle and glued/nailed it into a box and put 2x24watt pc into it you can also do a 70watt mh if you want to keep sps or a 96 watt quad bulb pc. I think that the 9x2 fixture you were showing there would be ok for softies but thats about it unless mabey you get two of them

[alien9168]

Not enough for sps...but definatly some softies. :)

-alien

[Don_Gnomio]

yea thats what i thought....

a definately cant do mh cuz i dont have the money.....

ill keep looking arround...

[alien9168]

Victor- I have definatly been there man. :(

But if you cant afford MH, or stronger lights,
You will be even more upset when the sps
dont make it--especially on a tight budget. ;)

Just be patient and save up.

Good luck dude. :)

-alien

[Don_Gnomio]

thanks man

im being very patient, the tank has just been sitting there on my desk for about 1 year...its torture...lol

[alien9168]

Patience is a virtue. And somthing imo that is lacking in this hobby--by alot of people. Use your lack of funds as a positive. Learn all you can so that when you do have money you dont waste it. ;)

Trust me, there is somthing to be said about waiting to spend- even though its hard ;)

-alien

[OrangeKoi]

So you say with 2 that would work?

Oh, not to contradict, but to learn, I have an "edge" of an sps that was supposed to be live rock but is actually alive. I had it in my 2.5 up till now with 10K/actinct 50/50 bulb and it seemed happy? Is this something short lived or have I just done something right for this little guy?

[Mikeeal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7017782#post7017782 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by alien9168
Patience is a virtue. And somthing imo that is lacking in this hobby--by alot of people. Use your lack of funds as a positive. Learn all you can so that when you do have money you dont waste it. ;)

Trust me, there is somthing to be said about waiting to spend- even though its hard ;)

-alien

It's disgusting how much money I could've saved had I read first.

[alien9168]

Mikeeal-

Its ok dude- we all learn in different ways ;)

I really do think that time spent reading is incredably valuable. Too me, that is why having a shortage of $$ has been both a BLESSING and a curse. The curse part being that you always want to start a new project.

Its amazing how many mistakes you learn to avoid by reading. And good things you try to emulate :)


-alien

[Kogo]

i use the 2x9w pc over my 2.5g and it works great for zoas and polips. on my 5.5 i have a 2x18w pc for low / moderate light corals.

[fella1320]

i have a 2x24 watt pc over my 5.5 so far i have mushrooms and a blue ridge coral as well as 1 acro that is alive but not thrivingthe reason for that may have been all the algae that i have in the tank though (im trying to add a fuge). let us know what you decide

[Don_Gnomio]

fella do you have a link to the lights you're using?

i too learned the hard way about money when i set-up my 55 gallon....

[leeweber85]

Save up and get a 70w hang on halide (from JBJ i think) for about $175.

Believe me, you will regret not going with the halide.

[Don_Gnomio]

i cant do halide not only because of money, but heat!!!

[Fishfreak218]

trust me... you want more than that 1 light.. i had 2 of them on my 2.5g and now they are both on my 1.6g. Hex reef

[alien9168]

Fishfreak- You have 2X 70w MH's on a 1.6g tank.

:eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2:

I believe that is just a tad excessive. ;)

by my calculations, more than 70w per gallon. :) :eek1:

-alien

[Fishfreak218]

oh.. whoops... i didnt have time to read the whole thing... srry.. i looked at the first light (Coralife Mini... 2x9wPC )