Watts per gallon

[nephrurus]

how many watts do i need to grow softies?? I have a 75 gallon....

[bosscrab]

The watt/gallon is irrelevant in reef keeping.
On my 75g I have 2 175w MH.
T5's are a nice choice too.

Anything 300w-450w would be ideal.

[protege]

I have the 72" 4x96 W Orbit PC Fixture by Current USA on my 125 FOWLR. It has some kenya trees and a gorgonian in it. They are loving the light. Most softies don't need a lot of light, but definately research it first.

[nephrurus]

Total output 380W.
Approx Fixture Size: 24"L x 15"W x 3"H
System Support: 1x250W HQI, 2x65W CF, and 2xBluemoon LED
Odyssea Metal Halide System (Electronic Version) features:

• non-corrosive powder coated housing
• extra large built-in cooling fans
• 1x external electronic HQI ballasts
• 2x internal electronic CF ballast
• individual power cords
• tempered glass splash guard
• mounting brackets
• so this would be good enough??

also do u submerge a mangrove or just the roots

[protege]

Make sure you do a good research on the Odyssea lights. I have read some bad stuff about them.

[Loverotties]

That's plenty!

[mg]

That fixture is only 24" long. You have a 48" long tank.

If you want metal halide you need a fixture with 2 metal halide bulbs and 48" long. For softies a fixture with two 150W bulbs would more than enough. Most fixtures will have PC's or T5 in addition for actinic bulbs.

You could also buy a T5 fixture. If you go this route, a 4 bulb system would likely be enough for softies. Make sure the fixture has individual reflectors though as this is what makes T5's the best type of flourescent lighting.

[rantsandraves]

I would opt for a t5 setup and keep the heat down. I am running 400 watts of t5 on my 155 gallon and my softies are happy. I am upgrading to 640 watts of t5 with individual reflectors and that should be good for almost anything. The Oddyssea lights intrigued me for the price but as they are not UL listed I decided against them.