Lighting for a 54gal corner tank

[Markarian421]

We're setting up a 54 gallon corner tank, about 23" deep, 27" from the back corner to the front, and about 38" wide at the very widest point.

We'd like to have a reef tank, with at least a couple anenomes, and who knows what else. My wife wants to get a clam eventually.

So the question is, what kind of lighting do we need. The tank has a canopy, is in a room that gets somewhat warm in the summer, and we can't really hang a pendant light above it, so I'd like to avoid MH lights due to the heat. I've been looking at the CustomSeaLife 96w powerquad power compact lights -- I'm pretty sure two would fit in there easy, and I'm hoping I'll be able to squeze in 3 (don't have the canopy yet so I'm not sure).

Is 2 (192w) enough? Is 3 (288w) too much? Am I insane? If I believe CustomSeaLife, each of these puts out as much light as a 175w MH lamp, so even two would be more than enough, but I'm somewhat doubtfull of that.

Thanks.

-- Brian

 

[mogurnda]

Welcome to Aquaria Central! Now is a great time to ask questions, before you're committed.

If I believe CustomSeaLife, each of these puts out as much light as a 175w MH lamp

That's completely untrue. A metal halide lamp puts out about 40% more photosynthetically usable light per watt than a power compact. With the proportions of your tank, a single 175 or 250W metal halide would be my choice, especially if you are thinking about clams. Anything except squamosa or derasa really needs metal halide. You should be able to find a good retrofit that will work for your canopy, and a few fans will help with the heat.

 

[Markarian421]

If I give up on the idea of clams, would 288watts of PCs be enough, assuming I can fit them in there?