Lighting Issue

[Doc]

Newbie Question,
I have a 55 gallon tank from Petland, with the regular off the shelf florescent lighting for a 4 foot tank. I hope to go to this frag swap and pick up some of my fist pieces of coral. What is the minimum lighting I need? Can I plug a power compact bulb into my regular florescent lighting fixture? Do I have to buy a new fixture? I would get a metal halide, but they run really hot and I need to do everything to keep my temp down. Thanks in advance for the advice.

Doc

 

[Josh]

You can keep low light corals under VHOs. What bulbs do you have?

You can't put PCs in because the bulb has a different plug.

 

[cali_reef]

Newbie Question,
I have a 55 gallon tank from Petland, with the regular off the shelf florescent lighting for a 4 foot tank. I hope to go to this frag swap and pick up some of my fist pieces of coral. What is the minimum lighting I need? Can I plug a power compact bulb into my regular florescent lighting fixture? Do I have to buy a new fixture? I would get a metal halide, but they run really hot and I need to do everything to keep my temp down. Thanks in advance for the advice.

Doc

The "regular off the shelf florescent lighting" won't be good for any type of coral. You can't use what you have now with PC, T5, nor VHO bulbs, the ballast is not capable of driving any high wattage bulbs.

 

[Doc]

Allrigth, So I need to buy a new set of strips. What do you guys recommend and from where? I usually buy my stuff from World Class Aquarium. I have quite a bit of live rock, 2 tangs, 2 clown fish and a wrasse. I don't know what company's are good or what type of lighting (Color and all) to get.

 

[House of Laughter]

Doc,

The lighting question is always a moving target and so complicated. We are working on a set of FAQ's for future users to review as a body of knowledge for questions like this.

In short, what you plan to keep is what will drive what type of lighting you want. And believe me, once you get started, you'll want that next nicer piece that requires that next level lighting etc.

So, that is the dilemma, what do you ultimately want to keep? Keep in mind that I think every cautious newbie goes through the same cycle - Regular Florescent light -----> Compact Florescents or T5's or VHO, then to the mack-daddy metal halide lighting. Most of which is driven by the interest in keeping that next nicer coral in your tank.

that being said, I would consider either T5, VHO or CF lighting. I have only bought my halide lighting brand new and have gone trhough the upgrade process by purchasing (and selling) to and from growing reef users.

Hope that is helpful.

House

 

[Doc]

Current Power Compact

World Class Aquarium (my usual store) is selling a power compact system from Current (Formerly known as Custon Sea Life) which consisted of 4x65watts slotts with bulbs (2 BLUE 2 white [would not give me the exact intensity)) and lunar light and 6 inch legs for $350. Is this a good deal. Should I go with this product?

Doc

 

[Josh]

I bought a custom sea life hood from WCA and it served me well for 2 years. I kept soft corals, LPS, and a few montiporas. That was with 2 96s.

 

[nanoreefer22]

Doc,
For $350 you could get something much nicer online. Check out Hellolights.com, I've bought my bulbs and ballast from them and their service has been good with me.
-Kris

 

[Josh]

Yeah, I forgot to mention that WCA has high prices on dry goods. You could get a 175W MH with 2 VHOs for $450 from Marine Depot.

 

[nanoreefer22]

Check this out. Should come up to about $270 or so after shipping. http://www.hellolights.com/484xcoraqpch.html

 

[Deanos]

World Class Aquarium (my usual store) is selling a power compact system from Current (Formerly known as Custon Sea Life) which consisted of 4x65watts slotts with bulbs (2 BLUE 2 white [would not give me the exact intensity)) and lunar light and 6 inch legs for $350. Is this a good deal. Should I go with this product?

Doc

The product is fine...but DO NOT buy it at that price. Like Kris said, many online vendors will beat that price including shipping:

Marine Depot

Premium Aquatics

 

[nanoreefer22]

Check out www.reefgeek.com too.

 

[cali_reef]

Doc,

You should take a look and touch some power compact lighted tanks before spending $350 on that light setup. IMO PC lighting is not the leading technology since it is not very efficient in getting the light produced into your tank, T5s with proper reflectors do much better. Checkout some sunlight supply Tek Lights with four bulbs, it may be a little more expensive but will serve your tank better using the same amount of power.

Like Jim mentioned, the important consideration is what do you want to keep eventually. We all have gone thru the lighting systems evolution and spent money that should not have been. Have you seen some MH lighted SPS dominated tanks yet?

 

[Doc]

Thanks everyone for the great advise. I did not know all that much about T5 and VHOs. I'm not sure what I want to keep in my tank, but I want to have choices and not be limited. Because my tank is in a room with poor air flow, I can't get a unit that runs hot. That knocks off metal halides, and I was told most VHOs. I think I'm going to end up with a T5. Is it better than a power compact? also what kinds of bulbs should I get. I'd like a lunar light to. Is that a good idea?

Thanks,
Doc

 

[cali_reef]

I think T5s are more efficient in getting light into your tank with the proper reflector, there are no good reflectors for VHO's. maybe you should look into a dual bulb T5 retro kits if you are not sure what you want to keep just yet, You can always add two more bulbs later if you want to try some light demanding SPS. Do you have a canopy for the 55?

Are Lunar lights those LED night lights? the night light is more for you than for the inhabitants, cool if you want to stay up late at night too see all the little critters out and about.

 

[alrha]

i know that fixture at world class (saw it when i was looking for a light for my refugium). I think it is a total rip-off and not worth it, dont get it.
you may as well go with metal halides and put a fan blowing across it to deal with the heat.

 

[Doc]

Thanks everyone, I have no canopy. I will have to have them stand on the legs of lights over the tank. The lunar lights are those small led night lights. Do you guys shut off all your lights at night, leaving the fish tank dark? So t5's it is. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[jhale]

My tank has no lights on it at night.
I think it's important for the tank to have a dark period.
First my scopas tang won't rest until the lights are out.
And there are a ton of creatures that come out when the tank is dark,
they all scavenge on the rocks eating detritus.
I've thought about getting some lunar lights like you mentioned, but have put that in the "to buy later" category.

 

[alrha]

my tank is never pitch dark. when the lights are off the moonlights are on.

in the ocean there is a moon and there is always going to be some light - otherwise how can they see? there should at least be ambient light in the room or something. imagine trying to walk around a dark basement with your eyes closed, dont do that to the fish.

the lights dont have to have legs, you can just put a piece of wood under it to lift it up. dont pay an extra $100 to save yourself a $2 piece of scrap wood.

 

[jhale]

My tank is never in the pitch dark, it gets a lot of ambient light from the street lights. I've been on a night dive, I could not see my hand in front of my face, so there are nights when the reef is very dark.
From what I've observed my fish go into their favorite spot and stay there for the night. The tank then gets taken over by all the little creepy crawling things :shocked1: