Pc Retrofit Kit

[Spongebobsquarepants]

I just got a PC Retrofit Kit that is 130w for my 20 gallon tank.Now never done this small of tank before was wandering if this too much or not enuff for a 20 gallon reef?I would like to have some LPS,polyp corals. I was thinking i sould be about keep most of what i want exp the acropora type corals.One a good thing the kit did come with two fans help with the heat .......good thing for small tank lol.
On a fun note got to see the biggest tank i ever seen a 110,000 gallon saltwater tank (fake corals)

I know the pic the pic is small only one i could find

[dodge41]

You will come to find that there is alot of debate over which light and how much light is "best". One rule of thumb many people use is watts per gallon. With 130 watts on your tank that comes out to be 6.5 watts per gallon. 5 watts per gallon is average while some tanks go all the way up to 10 or more to keep harder corals. The whole watts per gallon rule though isnt perfect as peoples tanks sizes vary just as their coral selection does. For soft corals I would say your fine. If you want hard corals you may want more.

[Spongebobsquarepants]

That what i was thinking just need to hear it from some one else lol.

[xaoss23]

could you immagine if they lighted that tank using the general watt/gal rule? At 5watts per gallon they'd have 550,000 watts of lighting!!! Those electric costs would be more than my annual salary!!!

[Loverotties]

Originally Posted by Spongebobsquarepants

I just got a PC Retrofit Kit that is 130w for 110,000 gallon saltwater tank (fake corals)

[Superman]

You are going to find that 130 watts of PC over a 20 gallon tank is going to make that tank's temp very hard to keep down. You will be able to keep just about anything (higher light demanding corals towards the top) Sounds to me like a temp nightmare. I would definitely start thinking of ways that you want to cool that tank down. Evaporative cooling (made possible by a fan directed at the water) is the easiest, but you will be constantly topping off your tank. All of these headaches can be avoided if this tank has a sump, then you can have some room for evaporation, and a larger body of water that will be easier to keep cool.

[Blue]

I have a 26gallon Bowfront with 220 watts of powercompact lighting built in to my hood i have one fan pulling Air out. the back is open and i have no sump Im keeping mostley softies and LPS i think you should be fine as far as heat goes Evap isnt bad either i do about 1.5 gallons a day but i think u should be happy with the lighting.


Nathan

[Superman]

1.5 gallons a day is a lot on a 26 gallon. Key questions would be how high are the lights going over the tank, is it an open backed hood, or completely enclosed. Blue, you stated that you have a fan pulling air out of your hood, that is probably why you don't have temp issues, which is why I suggested fan cooling for spongebob.

[Blue]

Superman The lights are about 3 inch's off the water surface the hood is open in the back yes i do belive the the fan and the open back due help a lot aswelll. i didnt 1.5 gallons to be that much camperd to five or 10 gallons a day on a tank with halides but just my experience.

Nathan