New Lighting

GeorgiaMan

GeorgiaMan

All Salt!
Dec 6, 2005
103
0
0
59
Macon Georgia
Well Santa came again and left more fish tank goodies! I picked up an Orbit lighting unit. It has duel 65watt compact lights. I am looking to add Zoa's or other soft corals that will do well under medium light. My question is that with two 65watt bulbs on at the same time, do I have 130 watts of light? Is it a cumlative effect or is it just still rated as 65watts? I really want to add some corals but I also want them to live! ANy ideas would be appreciated!

Oh yeah, I have a 40 gallon corner bow tank and the lighting difference from the cheap lighting I had is amazing.
 
Yes, it's considered 130W total.

But people say that what type of fixture and the bulbs you buy (brand wise) also makes difference as far as its effectiveness, which I believe is probably true. I've had a surprising success with that exact same set up (two 65W compact) on my 29G tank, which was my first coral tank. What I used to do was, when I saw a coral I wanted to buy, I researched beforehand to find out what its lighting requirement was. Different websites have different opinion on lighting requirements on certain species, but if you look at multiple sites, you can get a pretty good idea. I only purchased ones listed as "low" or "medium" and placed the "medium" ones on higher ground, closer to the light as it is harder for the light to reach the bottom of the tank.

That was the simple strategy I started out with. I'm not saying that would be the most right way to do it, but it sure worked for me, and I would recommend it.

Good luck!
 
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