Possibly the Dumbest Question (Lights)

T

trizthegreat

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Feb 2, 2007
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I have the below lights and I thought that it was 2X96, but was I incorrect is it really 4X96?
First picture is my two lights, second pictures from ebay. If I get new bulbs which colors are the best
Color available in:
  • 12000K premium daylight.
  • Actinic 420nm
  • 50/50 ( Half 12K daylight, Half true Actinic )
  • 6700K Super daylight for freshwater/ plant aquarium.
I am trying to find replacement bulb as I have no clue how old the bulbs are. Where are some good places to start. It is troubling that, ebay has some from 19.00 - 24.00 but when I go to Marine web sites the price is 64.00?

If I do have 4X96 as a beginner what are some corals that I can keep. I haven't started my shopping list as the BOSS, my wife is allowing this to happen only if she can get her Nemo fish and all the fish that were in the movie.

Clown
Tang
And I'm clueless of the other, but she wants Nemo.

I want pretty coral. I know I don't have the lighting for hard coral but can I keep any type of clams?

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Out of those bulb choices I would probably go with 2 12K and 2 actinic or possibly 3 12k and 1 actinic if actinic flourescing isn't important to you. I don't think the 50/50 bulbs are as effective as mixing the straight actinics in so I tend to stay away from these.

As to corals it depends somewhat on the depth of you tank as to what you can keep. But I'd guess that you would fall into low/moderate lighting range with that setup and could keep softies and LPS coral. I'd stay away from the SPS coral and clams would be tough under that system. If you're really set on a clam a lower light species such as the dresa or squasma (sp?) may work. Other on this board may be able to provide more insight on this.
 
I think you were right in your initial assumption. CF bulbs are 2 tubes each, which I believe is 96 watt total for the 2 bulbs.

What size is your tank? 200 watts is plenty for like a 55 gallon or whatever, but might be a little low for a 125 gallon.

When you get clowns, get 2. They're really cool in a pair.

If you have a 55g+ tank, you should be able to get a yellow tang (although some people debate that...just get as small of one as you can find, and you'll have years to worry about it)

Don't remember some of the other fish from the movie. Just can't get anything fierce that could fit a clown into it's mouth. ;)
 
Sorry All I thought my tank specs were on here.
I have a 125 standard size
25 gallon sump
25 gallon Refuigum
Gen -X pump 1126 gph
two 600 gph overflows
200# of live sand from an established tank
130# base rock. (100# in the mail)
Nautilus Protein Skimmer

tank%20%281%29.JPG tank%20%282%29.JPG
 
Good to know that your tank is 125, that changes things. So you have 2 power compact fixtures with each fixture containing 2x96 watt bulbs (~3 foot long bulbs, probably around 32-33 inches to be exact). The fixtures are then setup so one is mounted on the right half of your tank and the other on the left half so that you have PC bulbs 2 deep running the length of your tank, correct?

I was assuming you had a smaller tank and were running 4 deep. I don't think this setup would be sufficient for too many corals. Softies (but probably not leathers) and non-photosynthetic corals is all I'd recommend. If you want to keep much LPS or a clam a lighting upgrade would be a good idea.
 
I'm a little confused now. I was told that I could possibly keep alot of thing except Hard Corals. So now I need more light?
 
Depends what you're going for. Mushrooms, zoa's, carnations, button polyps and a few other corals should do fine under that light but I don't see LPS, clams or SPS being happy with only two PC bulbs front to back across the top.

If your local fish store led you to believe that you can have high light LPS and clams with that lighting on a 125 gallon they were making a big reach.

If you decide not to upgrade and want to have LPS corals in the tank, I'd drop the actinics from your bulb list and go with all 12K. It may not look quite as nice but will put out more PAR. Also, placing your higher light corals on rock near the top of the tank will help.
 
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