how many watts per gallon?
- Thread starter gafflezs
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i have all sorts of different corals...
dailydriven911
sps addict
well what kind of lighting do you have? tank dims? Lighting really depends on the corals you have sps, lps, or softies?
anAscendancy
Member
1-3 watts for soft corals,
3-5 For slow growth sps and LPS. (must be metal halide,HQI).
5-10 For high grow sps, and LPS, But the LPS must be low in the tank
at an angle (don't forget to use metal halide, HQI).
Mild to high water flow for all corals and remember to feed them, because
they also must eat (kent marine phytoplex).
3-5 For slow growth sps and LPS. (must be metal halide,HQI).
5-10 For high grow sps, and LPS, But the LPS must be low in the tank
at an angle (don't forget to use metal halide, HQI).
Mild to high water flow for all corals and remember to feed them, because
they also must eat (kent marine phytoplex).
matts125
Well-known member
Welcome to Reef Frontiers!
And this is a great way to put it for a beginner!
Matt
anAscendancy
Member
Sps, Lps
These are general names for some live corals. "SPS" Small Polyp stoney, "LPS" Large poyp stoney coral. SPS is like acropora, montipora, and LPS is like echinophyllia and the such. SPS corals are pretty easy to keep if you have the right set up, i.e. Metal halides, a refugium, and good water flow.
You don't need a refugium, but it is good for water quality. LPS corals are a little bit more tempermental. Start of with sps if you are just learning about keeping a live reef. Plus when they grow its a kick to watch over time!!! They will take over your tank, ergo the "fragging of corals".
These are general names for some live corals. "SPS" Small Polyp stoney, "LPS" Large poyp stoney coral. SPS is like acropora, montipora, and LPS is like echinophyllia and the such. SPS corals are pretty easy to keep if you have the right set up, i.e. Metal halides, a refugium, and good water flow.
You don't need a refugium, but it is good for water quality. LPS corals are a little bit more tempermental. Start of with sps if you are just learning about keeping a live reef. Plus when they grow its a kick to watch over time!!! They will take over your tank, ergo the "fragging of corals".
Cwazy Clown
Koi
mh-t5-pc totally different. the comparison table above is ok for pc. im running 13 wats a galon and im doing sps/clam but like 4 of mh/g is plenty for anything
anAscendancy
Member
Corals
Power compact lighting is ok for Clams, Brains, Coralined algea. Run 4-6 watts per gallon or so in a 60 gallon tank four 65 watt power compact bulbs are fine. The clams and the mentioned above will do fine in this setting. Now if you are interested in having hard corals (and we all are!!!!!), then you must have metal halide lighting (so they can have the light to grow!!). It has to do with the wavelength, and the corals feeding off of the light. If you want an in the middle fixture for a 100-150 gallon tank and don't want to spend to much money, then you can look in the classifieds. Look for a fixture or fixtures with two 250 watt metal halide or hqi bulbs. You will want two bulbs to give you at least 5 watts per gallon (in a 100 gallon tank). A metal halide fixture with a t-5 actinic bulb would be nice for coloring, but beggers can't be choosers. There is a web site with nice fixtures "northcoastmarines.com". They have some nice fixtures under the "pets with fins" heading. Go to the lighting section under metal halide lighting. They also have t-5 fluorecent fixtures and if you want these are ok, just take the watts of the fixture and divide it by the gallons of your tank, to figure out what will work. Let me know how it goes...
anAscendancy
Power compact lighting is ok for Clams, Brains, Coralined algea. Run 4-6 watts per gallon or so in a 60 gallon tank four 65 watt power compact bulbs are fine. The clams and the mentioned above will do fine in this setting. Now if you are interested in having hard corals (and we all are!!!!!), then you must have metal halide lighting (so they can have the light to grow!!). It has to do with the wavelength, and the corals feeding off of the light. If you want an in the middle fixture for a 100-150 gallon tank and don't want to spend to much money, then you can look in the classifieds. Look for a fixture or fixtures with two 250 watt metal halide or hqi bulbs. You will want two bulbs to give you at least 5 watts per gallon (in a 100 gallon tank). A metal halide fixture with a t-5 actinic bulb would be nice for coloring, but beggers can't be choosers. There is a web site with nice fixtures "northcoastmarines.com". They have some nice fixtures under the "pets with fins" heading. Go to the lighting section under metal halide lighting. They also have t-5 fluorecent fixtures and if you want these are ok, just take the watts of the fixture and divide it by the gallons of your tank, to figure out what will work. Let me know how it goes...
anAscendancy
Oh really :?: Why didn't any one let me know that! :lol:
Come on... :doubt:
The truth is that there is more than one way to skin a cat.
Gafflezs, I suggest you take a look at the lighting library
Also, you might want to check out the reef corals forum, there are many great threads on lighting requirements of various corals.
There are no good direct-answers to your question. "Watts per gallon" is a usless rule. A high-output flourescent watt is not equal to a metal halide watt or a very-high-outout watt. Even when considering watts within a class of lighting, they alone are not an accurate measurement of what a coral needs.
