lighting
- Thread starter MidasMan
- Start date
hyphen said:
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
but... i don't know what i'm talking about
bluedempsey said: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
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 try doing a search on reefcentral, a real saltwater site and see what sort of a response you get towwards the outdated watts per gallon rule.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?
MidasMan said: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
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
it was for your own edification. citing retail websites for reference is a no-no, especially when trying to boast about it
bluedempsey said: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
someone agree with me @ the site u mentioned 
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
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
