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LIGHT Questions???

DanJ

DanJ

??? Well i have a Coralife Aqualight Double Linear Strip Compact Fluorescent Fixture, 4X65 Watt, 48 inch? I thinks the box says it is 260 watts well, I want corals and my tank has been running for about a year and i have a small leather toadstool and 2 kenya tree frags, so will this be good enough to put more difficult corals in? Should I wait. And my tank is a 55 gallon. Difficult i mean like stony looking corals.

here is a link:
http://www.marineandreef.com/Aqualight_Compact_Fluorescent_4X65W_48_Coralife_p/res53106.htm
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

I'd kick it up to at least a T5 fixture.

I did pretty well with just about anything, including clams on the sand bed, under T5 lighting on my first 55 gallon tank.

I'd do at least 4x54 watt with individual reflectors, 2x 10,000k and 2 actinic. But if I had it to do over again, I probably would have gone with a 6 bulb fixture. More configuration options and more overall coverage.

Just my two cents, for what it's worth.
 
DanJ

DanJ

I also have a glo 2 bulb fixture

Hagen Glo T5 HO Lighting System - Double - 48
thats what it is but it is only 2 x 54 watts T5

I have the fixture I just need bulbs for it.

but both dont fit at the same time.

so it is 260 watts 50/50 compact flourescent bulbs or 108 watts t5

What should i do?

Here is a link:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind...-C881-DE11-B712-001422107090&mr:referralID=NA


i guess i wouldnt be sad with zoas and mushrooms lol maybe i could find some rare cool looking ones :D
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

There are some other softies you can keep successfully under PC lighting. You can keep zoanthids for one, there are some pretty neat pulsing xenias out there that positioned correctly in the tank can do quite well under that lighting as well.

Do a little research, check with some club members for frags, if upgrading your lights isn't in cards, you can still put together a pretty cool softie reef in that 55.

Good luck!
 
DanJ

DanJ

Well i have a 55g but i have a whole load of live rock like about so its probably like actually 40g of water so that is which is 6.5 watts per gallon
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

With that much CP lighting you can keep just about anything. That being said I don't like CP lights because you a) have to replace the bulbs way to often 6-9 months b) they generate too much heat being older technology c) they don't have the par of T5 or VHO.

Now besides lighting you need a much more stable environment for SPS, good calcium levels, clean water, and higher flow. Likely you should have a skimmer to help with that, run carbon, and make sure you keep your levels up with some sort of calcium supplement.

CP lights don't have the par that T5 or MH do so any corals that need lots of light you will want to start up top.....or if you start them lower monitor and move if they look unhappy.
I wouldn't suggest a clam unless you can keep it up high.

I respect people who say only MH for SPS but I disagree. Maybe maybe growth will not be as fast with T5 bulbs. You will want at least 4 x 54W bulbs though and 6 would be more flexible as stated earlier. You will be able to do about anything with that. Note that some bulbs like say the UVL Aquasun have better or much better par then a Coralife bulb so quality is important.
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I ran 265w of PC lighting over a 120 when I first started in the hobby. I successfully kept "easy" SPS. Monti, digi, etc. Green & orange easier than purple. It isn't impossible to keep ANY SPS, but to keep nicely colored acros you need more/better light than that.

And I'd change bulbs every 5-6 mo. After that the color spectrum shifts (so slowly that you can't see it until you replace the bulbs) to something that is VERY conducive to growing nuicence algae.
 
DanJ

DanJ

I do have a skimmer and i never ran carbon or put calcium supplements in. And what do you mean carbon like a carbon reactor? And calcium supplements do you have one you recommend?
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

Something like a TLF (Two Little Fishes) reactor or similar yes. Would help, skimmer check. Well for calcium your choices are two part solutions, kalk reactor, or calcium reactor. I personally just dose two parts and do water changes. I use ESV for what it is worth.
 
DanJ

DanJ

Ok well i know i am clearly a noob! When i started i bought a canister filter which sucks. I bought a 55 which sucks well i cant drill holes to make a sump i can only do the hang on the back sump which i will just keep the canister. Well the phosban reactor how do you use it?
Does it hang on the back of the tank? do you run it wen u do water changes?

Same as the other reactor?

what is ESV? :(

Sorry for being a pain in ur ....

But thanks so much for the help!
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

Well you can always use the 55 as a sump under a really big tank. ;D

ESV is a brand of two part dosing ...check out www.premiumaquatics.com and you can find both TLF and ESV as brands under reactors and dosing I think are the correct catagories.

You can hang a TLF reactor yes...basically you have some pump that pushes water through the canister filled with carbon ect. Actually not much different then a canister filter to be honest. You don't want to trap a lot of gunk in a canister filter as it will spike your nitrates etc. Some run them with just phosban or carbon FYI.
 
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