Weekly Discussion - Lighting

[OneDummHikk]

How do you determine what lighting you need for a tank? And, what are some of the questions you need to ask before being able to decide?

[whatevva]

For me, it was the depth of the tank and what I could physically fit under the canopy. The tank depth is 30 inches so that meant 250MH (should'a gone 400W I think), and I needed a 3 foot fixture to fit under the canopy of a 4' tank. Next time....forget the canopy!

[whatevva]

I also wanted to add that I came very close to buying a 400W equivilent LED fixture. I calculated over $1300 in saving for MH bulbs over the lifespan of the LED's, but when the LED sections DO go out...how much are they gonna cost? I have a feeling that's it's gonna be a scary number...

[dobejazz]

The main question is what do you want to keep. Also as Butch said the size and depth of the tank

[whatevva]

Originally Posted by dobejazz

The main question is what do you want to keep.

Agreed, I guess I just figure that everyone will eventually want to do SPS's

[dobejazz]

Originally Posted by whatevva

Agreed, I guess I just figure that everyone will eventually want to do SPS's

LOL not everyone I like my softy tank

[frankandmaura]

Here is my take:

As far as corals, I like to think of "corals I can grow" and "corals I can keep" as 2 different things. I think you can keep many corals, but growing them is different.

I right now have 440W of VHO over a 125 gal tank. I have a few SPS, a few LPS, a bunch of softies, a Hatian/condy anemone and even a Derasa clam...the softies are growing well...the other stuff is doing well also, but not growing like crazy (which is ok with me). I don't want the tank to fill up too quickly. Now there are definately corals and clams I would not put into my tank due to very high light restrictions, but I think if you place the higher light need stuff up in the tank you can have many interesting corals.

Just my .02

[OneDummHikk]

OK, so far we have:

Depth of the tank (vertical depth).
Size of the canopy.
Desired occupants of the tank.

Anything else?

What if I don't want corals but just want a FO tank?

I asked about the weekly thread and was told to start it, so I did. I guess I will keep up with it until tim gets through with the site upgrades. I hope I do him proud as a temporary stand in.

[frankandmaura]

From what I have heard, the FO tanks don't need light...unless you want corraline to grow. The fish don't need it.

[Loverotties]

Originally Posted by frankandmaura

From what I have heard, the FO tanks don't need light...unless you want corraline to grow. The fish don't need it.

Not only FO but FOWLR and Seahorse tanks,sponge tanks etc...

[Doug1]

Originally Posted by frankandmaura

From what I have heard, the FO tanks don't need light...unless you want corraline to grow. The fish don't need it.

Pretty much Frank, enough light to see the fish, really any old light will do, but some aquarium bulbs will "pop" colors better so thats a factor to consider.

I have always been a VHO fan, never cared for the Power Compacts life or singularity(special purpose) and when the T-5 craze came along, I thought yah right. We have T-5 in the warehouse and when you are up on the parts picker 5' under one of the 8 tube polished reflectors the light is pretty intense I have to admit, I can easily see using them on my IceCap ballast on the next tank

[Siberman]

Put me down for PCs. I have 130 watts (65 actinic and 65 50/50) on a 20 high and I've gotten excellent growth (IMHO) with LPS, 'shrooms, ricordea, zoos, palys, star and yellow polyps.

They'll also grow the heck out of tomato and chili plants until they're ready to set outside.

[OneDummHikk]

Frank, while you are right about the FO (the lights are for you to see, not the fish), coralline will grow in the dark with a food source. The light causes it to color up. The base rock in a tank has coralline on it even in the lack of a source of light.

We haven't made it to the point of deciding what form of light (PC, T5, VHO, MH) yet, we are still trying to decide how you decide how much and what type light you need. We will get to the PC/T5/VHO/MH part soon

Desired inhabitants of the tank.
Dimensions of the tank.

(I am leaving the canopy part out of this list because that isn't really - to me - one of the questions. The canopy size dictates the physical size of the lights and not the light spectrum you will need).

What are some of the things that you might want in a tank that would cause you to need a potentially different type/form/quantity of light?

[trea]

I was running to coral life 96 watt fixtures on my 44 gallon. They are both 50/50. In the begining I managed a torch coral about mid way in the tank. I messed the coral by monitoring my salinity. I was really new to hobby at that time. My brain does well at the bottom of the tank especially, or at least I suspect with the clam on metal halide. I believe that bulb is a 175watt 14k. When I upgrade my tank I would like to get a T-5 fixture. I really like the actinic look. Hard to get out of the 50/50.

[dobejazz]

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

Frank, while you are right about the FO (the lights are for you to see, not the fish), coralline will grow in the dark with a food source. The light causes it to color up. The base rock in a tank has coralline on it even in the lack of a source of light.

We haven't made it to the point of deciding what form of light (PC, T5, VHO, MH) yet, we are still trying to decide how you decide how much and what type light you need. We will get to the PC/T5/VHO/MH part soon

Desired inhabitants of the tank.
Dimensions of the tank.

(I am leaving the canopy part out of this list because that isn't really - to me - one of the questions. The canopy size dictates the physical size of the lights and not the light spectrum you will need).

What are some of the things that you might want in a tank that would cause you to need a potentially different type/form/quantity of light?

Anenomes come to mind -