Alright, here is the question. Is it possible to have too much lighting for your corals? I know that they say that you can't really over do it, but is it possible? I am in the process of slowly putting my marine system together, and was looking at metal halide lighting. The tank is a custom 60"x30"wx24" I know I can easily get away with 2 400w metal halide, but was looking at some hydroponic sites and for almost the same price can get 1000w lighting system, what is the draw back to this? And yes I am going reef tank here, thinking of having some clams and soft and stony corals. Don't want to limit myself on anything.
Lighting
- Thread starter dr_sudz
- Start date
Yes, you can certainly overdo the lighting and melt corals. They have different light requirements. Softies mostly prefer less and SPS more. Also, you'll find that 1k in one centralized area will melt most anything. You are actually better off with 3x 250w to cover the tank width.
There is probably a point where there is "too much" but many photosynthetic corals will grow to live in, and even appreciate higher lighting if acclimated properly. Of course there are exceptions, and limitations to that rule however.
I know melting corals is an issue, but usually that is from over heating. I know that you can bleach out your corals, just no one really has said that there is a cap for lighting just the more the merrier in the tank. I think I will end up going with 2 400w. I can experiment a little once I get things set up and see how it goes. Because of the depth of my tank I should be good placing most corals where ever, but time will tell.
I might use 2x 250w on this tank for MH...but thats just me. 2x 400w seems like a little overkill...maybe if you were just going to do acros in all 2' of depth that you have but...otherwise I would tone it down some.
I am in agreement with Fleshy. 2 x 250 watts would be fine. 400 watts is overkill in all but the deepest (>30" deep) tanks. If you really wanted extra bright coverage for everything, I would go with 3 x 250 watts.
The meltdown can be associated with many things, but with overlighting what happens is the internal symbiotic bacteria do not have adequate protection from the light and actually get what amounts to a fatal sunburn. They never recover from this. Even 400 watts on this tank will burn almost anything in the top half of the tank if not very carefully acclimated, or you raise your lamps to a few to several feet above the water surface.
Having had the full range of lights (I am running 2x 400 watt 14k ushios on a 30" deep tank right now) I wouldn't do 400's again unless I had a 36" deep tank and wanted to keep very demanding corals in the lower portion. I have seen 1000 on a display tank in a local store. It is 800 gallons, and even so, those lamps are 3 or 4 feet above the water surface.
good luck! I am sure you will find a way that works.
The meltdown can be associated with many things, but with overlighting what happens is the internal symbiotic bacteria do not have adequate protection from the light and actually get what amounts to a fatal sunburn. They never recover from this. Even 400 watts on this tank will burn almost anything in the top half of the tank if not very carefully acclimated, or you raise your lamps to a few to several feet above the water surface.
Having had the full range of lights (I am running 2x 400 watt 14k ushios on a 30" deep tank right now) I wouldn't do 400's again unless I had a 36" deep tank and wanted to keep very demanding corals in the lower portion. I have seen 1000 on a display tank in a local store. It is 800 gallons, and even so, those lamps are 3 or 4 feet above the water surface.
good luck! I am sure you will find a way that works.
Thanks for all the replys, please keep things coming. I have done a lot of setups before, but the corals end of things I am still mostly a newb on.
I am going to do my lighting system suspended from the ceiling so raising it shouldn't be an issue. I have a lot to work with from what you guys are suggesting.
I am going to do my lighting system suspended from the ceiling so raising it shouldn't be an issue. I have a lot to work with from what you guys are suggesting.