Please don't be too harsh - stupid question

[larsson]

I have 12 6 foot 56W plain old you buy at the store Phillips fluorescents over a 450 gallon, 36"H tank...will any corals grow in this? I have looked at xenia, as I have heard some people have grown it in very low light conditions. Is there any coral that has a chance of growing in this lighting setup?

[Mickadee]

I think with that large of a tank you need something strong not much of that light is going to make it to the bottom of the tank. also the lights that are normal run of the mill flourescents you dont get the proper kelvin rating. for a fish only system I think it would be alright but for a reef type tank more is deffinately needed.
Mike

[larsson]

Originally posted by Mickadee
I think with that large of a tank you need something strong not much of that light is going to make it to the bottom of the tank. also the lights that are normal run of the mill flourescents you dont get the proper kelvin rating. for a fish only system I think it would be alright but for a reef type tank more is deffinately needed.
Mike

Thanks I may upgrade later, but was wondering if there was anything that could be kept with what I have right now.

[Mickadee]

there are some lower light corals that dont require the intense light and there are some that dont need light at all(not for a beginer though need regular feedings to live) mushrooms and some polyps are some that might do all right if placed at the top of the tank. I will let someone else add to it becasue I really am not sure those are still on the border of not enough. but here is the bad part if the K rating on the bulbs are 6500k or more I dont think they will have a chance at all.
Mike

[larsson]

Originally posted by Mickadee
there are some lower light corals that dont require the intense light and there are some that dont need light at all(not for a beginer though need regular feedings to live) mushrooms and some polyps are some that might do all right if placed at the top of the tank. I will let someone else add to it becasue I really am not sure those are still on the border of not enough. but here is the bad part if the K rating on the bulbs are 6500k or more I dont think they will have a chance at all.
Mike

But normal Coral Life fluorescents should fit fine in the sockets? Their just the plain two pronged bulbs. I was thinking of getting some actinics. I'm not opposed to replacing all the bulbs, although it may take some time since they aren't cheap and there are 12 of them. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know. I'm still learning.

[Mickadee]

to replace those bulbs say at 25.00 each your looking at about 300.00 I think you can get better lighting for that amount than replaceing your bulbs what you might want to do is put back the money that you are going to spend on bulbs each time and then upgrade to better lighting. you can find used setups in the trade forums that wont cost as much as new and you will get the light that you need instead of spending money of on a low end system.
IMO

o yeah and I cant find any 60inch bulbs that are at the right K rating that are Normal output lights. so you may not have to much choice in what you can get.

[Joel]

regular no bulbs make a tank look really yellow. I bought replacement halide bulbs in Feb and it was too blue (different brand) so I took out my actinic no and put in a bulb from my garage, it looks really nasty when the halides are off if you ask me, kinda like polluted pond water. I bought a coralife daylight and it looks fine.

[larsson]

Originally posted by Mickadee
to replace those bulbs say at 25.00 each your looking at about 300.00 I think you can get better lighting for that amount than replaceing your bulbs what you might want to do is put back the money that you are going to spend on bulbs each time and then upgrade to better lighting. you can find used setups in the trade forums that wont cost as much as new and you will get the light that you need instead of spending money of on a low end system.
IMO

o yeah and I cant find any 60inch bulbs that are at the right K rating that are Normal output lights. so you may not have to much choice in what you can get.

True What kind of setup would you do in that tank? I'm only really interested in mushroom corals and zoos, maybe some polyps. Also, I'd prefer that the lighting choice not raise my electrical bill more than $25 or so per month!

BTW, here's a pic of the lights I have now. It says F72T12/D or F72112/D on the bulbs. It's hard to see if it's a T or a 1.

I have more pics if needed.

[Mickadee]

you might try a VHO DIY setup similiar to what you have but more than 2x the light output and wont bother the light bill to much the only thing is that none of the parts are interchangeable ( I dont think) on a better note you can buy it one piece at a time and then put it together once you get all the pieces.

I dont know where I got 60 inch from thats not 6ft LOL
the same 72 inch 56 watt bulbs with VHO you get 160 watts of light per bulb. so you could probably cut down from 12 to a lesser number.
Mike

[larsson]

Originally posted by Mickadee
you might try a VHO DIY setup similiar to what you have but more than 2x the light output and wont bother the light bill to much the only thing is that none of the parts are interchangeable ( I dont think) on a better note you can buy it one piece at a time and then put it together once you get all the pieces.

I dont know where I got 60 inch from thats not 6ft LOL
the same 72 inch 56 watt bulbs with VHO you get 160 watts of light per bulb. so you could probably cut down from 12 to a lesser number.
Mike

That might be kind of cool. I'm not rich by any means so the electricity cost per month concerns me a bit. Are we talking $10 increase or $100 with VHO setup? Also, how long should they be running during the day? Would I be able to have any low light corals with a setup like that?

[Mickadee]

well I dont know how much for sure what it would change your bill but 2-250 watt Metal Halides raise mine about 30 doallars a month. as far as what corals you could keep it depends on how many bulbs you go with. it depends on what your kwph is charged by your electric company and I am not to sure on how to figure it up someone else can add that.LOL
if you go with 6 bulbs that is 17 x more light than you had with the current setup. and you keep more of a variety with it.
probably anyhting other than clams and sps and few other intense lighting corals. if youare just going for mushrooms and polyps you can probably go even less and be fine.
Mike

[larsson]

Originally posted by Mickadee
well I dont know how much for sure what it would change your bill but 2-250 watt Metal Halides raise mine about 30 doallars a month. as far as what corals you could keep it depends on how many bulbs you go with. it depends on what your kwph is charged by your electric company and I am not to sure on how to figure it up someone else can add that.LOL
if you go with 6 bulbs that is 17 x more light than you had with the current setup. and you keep more of a variety with it.
probably anyhting other than clams and sps and few other intense lighting corals. if youare just going for mushrooms and polyps you can probably go even less and be fine.
Mike

Thanks I was just reading about reef lighting and read that PC is even more energy efficient than VHO. Is this true?

[Doug1]

Oh Man DONT EVEN GO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!
look at the Ms Fish lover post where I go into great detail on VHO (cheap) lighting for larger tanks
http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=1

[wasabi]

i would forget the no bulbs unless you want a fish only. thats way to big a tank to light with normal output lighting. forget corals, mushrooms, zoanthids or any other. your best bet for even low light corals in a tank that size would be 2--400 watt halides. that would give you enough light for low light corals. your power bill would not go up that much. you can find 400 watt halide systems sans bulbs for under 200.00 on ebay. i have a 450 gallon system your going to pay way over 30.00 per month on water changes alone much less power. filling it with saltwater is gonna cost you a bundle. if your worried about a 30.00 power bill you are in for a big surprise on how much it costs to keep a tank of that size up and running. dont want to dicourage you but you might want to get a second job to pay for it.

[larsson]

Originally posted by wasabi
i would forget the no bulbs unless you want a fish only. thats way to big a tank to light with normal output lighting. forget corals, mushrooms, zoanthids or any other. your best bet for even low light corals in a tank that size would be 2--400 watt halides. that would give you enough light for low light corals. your power bill would not go up that much. you can find 400 watt halide systems sans bulbs for under 200.00 on ebay. i have a 450 gallon system your going to pay way over 30.00 per month on water changes alone much less power. filling it with saltwater is gonna cost you a bundle. if your worried about a 30.00 power bill you are in for a big surprise on how much it costs to keep a tank of that size up and running. dont want to dicourage you but you might want to get a second job to pay for it.

How frequently and what percentage of water do you perform during your water changes?

Edit: How much does it cost to run yours per month? I'm interested as I'm still learning.