lighting

[MidasMan]

what kind of lighting should i put on my salt tank?

[bluedempsey]

depends on what u r triing to keep?

[bluedempsey]

put it this way
if you are doing a reef you will need between 3 to 5 watts
per gallon not to mention if the tank is deep

[MidasMan]

im going to be keeping triggers and like a grouper. ill have a couple big live rock chunks in there and i dont know what kind of light i should put on it. should i just put a high wattage light on there like a 50/50? oyeah this is a 120gh
:help2: :feedback: :help2:

[seighten]

1- keeping trigger(s) ehh? have to very choosy in which ya try to mix (hell, that applies to most salwater fish!) as most all triggers are pugnacious.....

2- any particular reason for the live rock??? if to help with filtration, will need more than two chunks to affect filtration in a positive manner... if just for show, there are some really nice artificial corals being sold for tanks that would look better...

3- unless ya have some interesting critters hitchin a ride with the chunks, lighting would just be a matter of what works to illuminate yer fishies...

[bluedempsey]

im going to be keeping triggers and like a grouper. ill have a couple big live rock chunks in there and i dont know what kind of light i should put on it. should i just put a high wattage light on there like a 50/50? oyeah this is a 120gh
:help2: :feedback: :help2:
i would just throw an actinic bulb to bring out the color of the fish
and a 10000 k to brighten it up.

[MidasMan]

is that it...cause thats what i was goin to put on there..but i didnt want to buy everything and not use it.

[bluedempsey]

yeah if your not keeping corals
it's just what looks good to you.

fish don't really need special lighting

[hyphen]

just an fyi, watts per gallon is not an efficient way of measuring proper lighting.

[leviathon13]

bright lighting is always good on saltwater tanks. power compact flourescents are my fav. they run cooler than normal flours (electronic ballast vs. tar ballast) and you can get 'em in any kelvin rating you want. what ever you go with, you should put some actinics on there. you'd be supprised with the difference that the blue spectrum makes vs using only full spectrum or 10000k +. your fish will look the best with a combo of color ratings if actinics are added to the mix. www.aquatraders.com has the cheapest power compact hoods I've found on the web.

[bluedempsey]

just an fyi, watts per gallon is not an efficient way of measuring proper lighting.
i don't see you triing to help! ^ :spam:
:p

[bluedempsey]

just an fyi, watts per gallon is not an efficient way of measuring proper lighting.

from liveaquaria.com:

To correctly light a reef aquarium that is 24" deep or less, use a lighting system between 4 to 8 watts per gallon. Of course, you can relax requirements significantly by choosing to house only corals and invertebrates that require low levels of light, as well as non-photosynthetic invertebrates.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=217

:naughty: :grinno: :woot:

but... i don't know what i'm talking about :(

[hyphen]

from liveaquaria.com:

To correctly light a reef aquarium that is 24" deep or less, use a lighting system between 4 to 8 watts per gallon. Of course, you can relax requirements significantly by choosing to house only corals and invertebrates that require low levels of light, as well as non-photosynthetic invertebrates.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=217

:naughty: :grinno: :woot:

but... i don't know what i'm talking about :(


liveaquaria.com is hardly a source on reef lighting. try doing a search on reefcentral, a real saltwater site and see what sort of a response you get towwards the outdated watts per gallon rule. live aquaria is the same site that says it's okay to keep a clown trigger that grows to 1' 8" in a 125 gallon aquarium.

anyway, back to the watts per gallon, it's inaccurate. when there was less technology in regards to light, it was used as a general estimation as to how much light you might need. but with different lighting technologies it's out dated. it also doesn't take into account water depth and penetration. let's say 3 watts per gallon you say. for a 60 gallon it would take 180watts according to this rule. 180watts of what? power compact, fluorescent, metal halide, t5, t12? all the different fixtures and ballast output different intensities.

180watts of metal halides on a 60g might burn the **** out of softies that are sitting at the top of the tank, whereas 180w of fluorescent might be just right for them. not to mention that lesser wattage MH or PC would be the equivalent of a higher wattage fluorescent. don't forget, again, water depth. a higher intensity bulb with less wattage may penetrate deeper than a low-intensity bulb with high watts.

oh wait, yet another point is light coverage. a mh pendulum may fit the 3 watts per gallon, but how much does it actually cover? it's not a strip and will dangle over your tank leaving some parts unexposed to light. hrmm... someone would need to add more lights, thus making the watts per gallon rule null and void.

so it's not the watts you need to look at, it's the intensity. so um, maybe you don't know what you're talking about?
:screwy: :D :WHOA: :( :clap :headbang2 :woot:

[bluedempsey]

im going to be keeping triggers and like a grouper. ill have a couple big live rock chunks in there and i dont know what kind of light i should put on it. should i just put a high wattage light on there like a 50/50? oyeah this is a 120gh
:help2: :feedback: :help2:

well i guess i don't know what i'm talking about :(
he's not even doing a reef!.......... so was that all necessary?
^ it was a simple question... i gave a simple answer.
i don't think that his 120 gal tank is 24x 48x 36 :grinno:

[hyphen]

it was for your own edification. citing retail websites for reference is a no-no, especially when trying to boast about it :(

[bluedempsey]

well i guess i don't know what i'm talking about :(
he's not even doing a reef!.......... so was that all necessary?
^ it was a simple question... i gave a simple answer.
i don't think that his 120 gal tank is 24x 48x 36 :grinno:
:grinyes:

[bluedempsey]

someone agree with me @ the site u mentioned :ROFL:
from reef central:
09/01/2005 10:25 PM

kau_cinta_ku
Registered Member

Registered: May 2005
Location: iowa
Occupation: cnc opperator
Posts: 4610


well if no corals then the standard pc lights that came with the tank are just fine or in your cause any lighting that you like will work alot of diff. ways to set up lighting to make things stand out i like the look of the 50/50 bulbs for a fish only tank but reef is another thing. so you will be fine with 3-5 watts per gallon

Hobby Experience: 10 years fresh water, 1 year salt water, 3 years pond
Current Tanks: 46 gal bow FOWLR, 46 gal FW, 45 gal. brackish, 20 molly, 90gal koi
Interests: fish, camping, trave

[MidasMan]

thanks man...all i wanted was a simple answer :thumbsup: