Newbie Lighting Pro's and Con's

[starAU]

Hello All,

Umm well Im new to reefkeeping I have successfully kept a large pond and small freshwater tanks but would like to delve into the reef side of things.

The question I have is regarding the use of MH lights and fluros. I am located in Western Australia and fish shops near me are few and far between. When visting my "local" shop and queried about lighting I was told by the manager MH lighting only with reefs. He was quite adamant that all High Density Fluros were a waste of time and money.

Its my understanding that fluros can be and have been successful in reef tank set ups, I have read this in these forums and in literature I own. I have noticed board members here use a combo of MH and fluros. I was just wondering what is the best lighting option for a 60 gallon tank. I want to make sure I make the right choice.

So was the fish guy right, or do I need to call him a curse word under my breath ? Thanks for any help.

 

[reiple]

Hello,

Here in my country (Philippines) it is even more difficult if not impossible to obtain and maintain MH/VHO systems. Not to mention the electric bill which runs sky high.
All corals will benefit from MH and VHO systems. And some inverts require MH and VHO (like anemonies).

My experience with a 60 gallon tank with softies and a few brain and catalaphilia jardinei (elegance corals), try using compact flourescent lamps (they are popular in these areas these screw type bulbs) rated for 6500K or higher and at 45-60 watts. I built one with 4-60watt in addition to 2-NO Acts and 2-white acts (320 watts total) and ran them for a period of 12 hours. The tank was healthy and kept for 3 years. Before I gave up on the electric bill (sigh!)

Good luck with your coming experiences.

Paul

 

[Alpental]

Lights

What part of Western Australia? I lived in Sydney for a little while and I had a good friend who lived in Perth who I visited out there.

I’m new to Reef keeping as well but I did a fair amount of research and I’ve seen a bunch of successful set-ups. You can take my advise lightly.

It depends on what you are planning on keeping in the tank. Soft coral, mushrooms etc… fluorescent lights -PCs- are fine. SPS and clams will probably require MH. I’ve seen a lot of beautiful tanks running just on PCs. Most often I see a mixture of PCs or VHOs and a MH. I like this set up because it allows you to stagger the lighting periods to give different phases. Morning- just PC Mid-day- both Evening- PC. Further, it gives you more room to play around with your spectrum ex. Actinic PC with a whiter light from the MH. The point is; I disagree with your “fish guy” PCs are fine when used appropriately. In fact, sometimes I like the way the softer light from PCs looks on a reef tank better than MH… sometimes.

That really all I have to say about that.

 

[Scooterman]

Welcome StarAu & Alpental also, glad to have everyone here at RF.
Ok now that said I I have to agree that lighting depends on lots of things, like what are you keeping, any clams, hard corals etc? If your just starting out you may want to start off slow & with lots of softies lower lighting needed corals & just do a T5 H.O> set-up, VHO or even a PC. If you want to really dig deep & do your research & plan for eventual hard corals & other high light demanding species than you may want to study up on lighting a bit more before you make a lighting investment, this hobby isn't cheap lol. Also If you doing sps you will want to consider lots of well positioned flow, not necessary high flow but designed to keep water moving randomly & keep particulate in motion. One more thing to consider when getting a MH set-up is your tank depth, you need enough mh to penetrate that water. Lastly, kelvin lamps, lost of this has to do with the looks of your lighting, high kelvin lamps produce bluer light to the eye but not necessary high enough PAR for high demanding corals or clams. Learning, questioning & reading ahead of time will save the life of fish, corals & your wallet, if your going to do a reef I strongly urge you to read & learn as much as you can before jumping in, there is just too much to consider not to, it isn't as easy as any fresh water fish or ponds. Again welcome to RF, please feel free to ask a million questions & by all means search the forums, most of all your questions are here already studied & well discussed for your reading.

 

[shallowreef]

Welcome to Reef Frontiers!

 

[starAU]

I am planning on starting with softies first. Thanks for all the hello's and positive advice. I will keep researching and looking into the best lighting methods.

 

[bobfnp]

I have never had anything but PCs and have kept many large stoneys like elegance and bubbles, some frogspawn , and tons of softies like xenia, leathers, stars,and ofcourse mushroom polyps, sorry I don't have the scientific names memorized. lol But I do have over 330 watts on a 55 gal. I prefer the look of mixed spectrum PCs to MH any day , but I am sure the SPS's need as much as poss. may not be enough room over a 55 for more watts, without MH...I don't know... heat is also a big issue this summer...I've also read at GARF.org that they keep a ton of sps with just flourescents, who knows, just my .02 cents . BTW just got my first chiller !!! What a difference in stability of the tank... if anyone wants to know where to get a great deal write me.... Bob

 

[Little Luey]

Welcomr to the forum!!
How tall of a tank do you have? the PV lighting will be ok for shallow tanks but if its over 20in tall it may not be enough to penetrate all the way down to the bottom. This just means the softies will have to go on the rocks. I hear a lot of people is satisfied with T5, good penetration and light spectrum.

 

[Meche]

hmmm... yes what about T-5/HO? Dr.F&S has a sale on a 4 bulb 48" setup for a couple hundred bucks. These seem to be to be the bang-for-the-buck setup considering CF are about the same, and MH are in the $500 range.

I have never had anything but PCs...

...the PV lighting will be OK for shallow tanks...

What are PV and PC lights? Regular Fluorescents?

I'm checking DIY section for MH setups; there is Norfolk & WayPal a lightbulb costs 500 bucks!

edit: ok PC = compact fluorescents, but PV?