Newbie to Lights

[cybball]

I've got a 55 gallon Fish tank with around 15lbs of live rock. It's been fish only for around 5 years. I bought the live rock because of the cool things on it. My problem is lighting. My original light came with the tank. One 48 inch 65watt 10,000K light. I added one more, but actinic. The colors on the LR faded a bit, but are still there. Bright orange, purple, ect. There are even these little red things that I think may be sponges. The coolest thing is a purple thing that stands about 2 inches tall. It has a bunch of little "feather duster" looking things symetrically up and down it that will retract. My dad thinks it's coral. Could be. I even noticed a new little starfish in the tank. Very cool. My question is, where can I get lighing that won't break the bank. I stopped into my local place and they told me that 36 inch power compacts would do the trick. Said they were just over 200 watts for $250. Seemed pricey for the setup. I have seen on the site that I need 4-6 watts per gallon. So I figure 250 watts or more. How much should I plan to spend and is there a good place to look? I just don't know jack about lighting and could use the help. I plan on some corals, anemones, ect.

55gallon
1 perc clown
1 fire goby
1 naso tang
1 yellow tang
1 singapore angel
hermits
turbo snails
green brittle star
brown brittle star

Thanks for the help.

[Kurt]

Well for my 200 tank I have a PFO lighting hood 60 inch long with 3-250 Watt metal halides and 2 high output actinics. Sorta top of the line. Cost me 2000.00 Canadian. If I told my wife what I paid I might be out the door. One reason I bought it was because of the superior reflector inside the hood. I seem to be having trouble growing the coraline algaes in the light seems in my tank that stuff is growing in the shaded areas. Not sure why, I expected better growth on top. Have 10,000k halides. You can try to get some metal halide systems in home centers maybe. should give that a try. But expect to pay good money for the bulbs anyway. Sounds like your tank is doing good.:dance

[Kurt]

Actually on my last tank was a 75 gallon and I had retrofitted 3 double flourecent square fixtures bolted together. So I had 2- 10,000 k 2- power glow and 2 marine glow lights. this give me a total of 40 watts times 6 = 240 watts. This was very cheap to build and also did not look like much. But a better carpenter could have made it look really good. the down fall is having to replace 6 bulbs every year. Well that is what they tell you to do anyway.

[RothChyld]

Cybball, I would recommend the following as an alternative if you truly want to start building a reef tank. Metal Halides are expensive and generally will break the bank. It sounds like you do not want to do that. I would recommend getting a 48" Power compact light (get one that is the length of your tank) and adding approximately another 60 lbs of live rock. This would give you a lot more cool stuff to look at, gives you places to set your corals, and keeps the water quality more in line for a reef system.

Since you would be selecting PCs for lighting certain things you buy will need to be placed in certain areas. Things like clams or Acaporas would more than likely need to be at the top of the tank to get the most from the light. Sponges, Gorgonias, Polyps, bubbles, etc. can be a little lower in the tank.

The only downside is at approximately $4-5 for a lb of liverock that alone will cost you $240 - $300. You can always attempt to not add the liverock but realize you are venturing into an expensive and time consuming hobby. If you are not ready to make that committment I suggest you stick with fish and let the corals live another day. Also note Anenomes are not as successful under PCs after reading the Breeding survey (http://www.breeders-registry.gen.ca.us/anemonesurveyresults.htm) that Mogurnda posted. Anenomes seem to require high light that is more successful with Metal Halides if you want to keep them for a long period of time.

I hope this helps.

RothChyld

[OrionGirl]

There are many places to get lights online that are much cheaper. MarineDepot has free shipping on many items, and you can probably pick up the 48 inch Corallife PC's for a bit less. Shop around--you'll often see the PC's and metal hallide for sale on eBay--but buyer beware--do lots of research on the item before buying.

[cybball]

Thanks for the response. When usuing the lighting systems, do you guys keep the glass tops on? I've seen them without at my local retailer. I want to keep as much salt in the tank. Didn't know if that would greatly cut down on the amount of light in the tank. I am planning on another 60lbs of LR, but want to make sure my lighting is up to snuff. Very cool stuff in that LR.

[NanoMan]

marine depot charge me 25$ to pack my lights.thats how they get around the free shipping.but other than that it was the best price i could find.

[OrionGirl]

Really? We ordered 8 bulbs from them the other day, and were not charged for packing or shipping. Maybe it depends on what all is ordered?

For glass tops--depends. If you keep them clean, you won't lose much light, and will reduce evaporation. The exchange is that there will be some reduction to light, the glass tops will probably need cleaning once a month, and you'll have to watch the temp--higher watt lights put out more heat than NO, and the reduced evaporation will trap more heat in the tank.

[NanoMan]

i ordered the 48" 65w pc smartlite
and they said due to weight...............25$

[micaheli]

Originally posted by cybball
....I want to keep as much salt in the tank....

Actually, no salt leaves the tank... Its just water that evaporates. When you add water, you just add fresh-water to top off the tank. If you already know this,I apologize. But, if you don't.. You definately need to realize that no salt will evaporate out of the tank.

[mogurnda]

no salt leaves the tank except salt creep

[micaheli]

Originally posted by mogurnda
except salt creep

Salt creep is when it splashes out.. right? You shouldn't have that unless your powerheads are pointed at the surface. Right?

--micah

[Kurt]

bubbles rising to the surface and bursting will splash salt. Is that is what is meant by salt creep?

[micaheli]

Except reef tanks shouldn't have tons of bubbles in them at all.. In fact, microbubbles are discouraged. Unless some of you are running an airstone in your tank. :)

[Kurt]

any hang on filter will create a lot of salt splash. Happened on my older tank.

[micaheli]

Yeah, I can see that.. I'm not going to use a HOB though.. I didn't even think about them.

[Benallen]

hello, Just a few questions about lighting. I've been hearing tons about how great these flourex lights are, they say the use 65watts of electricity and have 6500k of light and 8355lumens and give off as much light as a halide bulb. Is this true? and is it worth buyin these bulbs or is it just a rip off?