ready to join the reef itch

[bapski]

-i have a 72x16x22 (LWH) glass tank
-an aqualine venturi protein skimmer that is supposedly rated for 150 gal.
-a 29 gallon sump with caulerpa thriving
-2 of these lights: http://www.esuweb.com/cardfile.asp?ItemNumber=53006&IDProductRelationship=35

my question is, what would you guys think i would need to start a reef tank? im thinking i may need to add more to my light and probably upgrade my skimmer. would really appreciate any suggestions as to what ligthing configuration i can do for my setup.

i have a pair of tank raised clowns, a hippo tang, a harlequin turkfish, a foxface and a yellow tang at the moment. i also have a couple of soft corals and was told they are not light intensive specimens. tank has been running for close to 7 months now.

 

[NaH2O]

I think the answer to the lighting question is really going to be what you want to keep as far as corals go. You have a couple of soft corals now, but do you have interest in more softies, maybe add LPS? Do you think you'll want to try clams or SPS?

 

[james734]

Welcome to RF. Sounds like Nikki got you off to a good start in regards to some questions. Provide some answers to give us some more to work with.

 

[keene1981]

at what watt of light can u start keeping softies

 

[4251cpd]

at what watt of light can u start keeping softies

Remember the bulb they used in the Easy Bake Oven, close enough...:badgrin:

 

[shallowreef]

Keene,

It depends how big of a tank you have. I'm not 100% sure what the wattage per gallon is suppose to be but your suppose to have a minimum of watage per gallon of water. For example 4-110watt VHOs over a 75 gallon works out to about 5.9 watts a gallon. Now i was able to do a lot of softies under those lights. SPS though require more per gallon. Thats when Halides are needed.

 

[Meche]

Yes but 5.9w of CF light is much less (1/3) than 5.9w of VHO light. Its a 110gal and he has 2x96w CFs. Thats less than 2w/gal of regular output light.

 

[keene1981]

i have 4 t8 and my mushrooms that are on the rock i picked up from the lfs look to be doing ok i would like buy more do u think they will live in that light

 

[Meche]

i have 4 t8 and my mushrooms that are on the rock i picked up from the lfs look to be doing ok i would like buy more do u think they will live in that light

I have no idea.

FYI t# is the diameter of the bulb in 1/8 increments not the output of the bulb. T5 I think are always HO (high output) but I think NO (normal output) and VHO (very high output) are common in both T8 and T12 sizes. In other words different people may assume different things when you say T8.

 

[keene1981]

thank for the info

 

[jezzeaepi]

How is CF light output going to be 1/3 of VHO? That makes no sense. I can tell you with certainty that the 192 watts of CF light over my tank is not equal to 64 wats of VHO. Nothing would be living let alone growing under that, but thats whats been happening in my tank.

 

[Meche]

Yes but 5.9w of CF light is much less (1/3) than 5.9w of VHO light. Its a 110gal and he has 2x96w CFs. Thats less than 2w/gal of regular output light.

ok, I saw a website that disagreed with this so I'm doing some more research. So far I have confirmed that 100watt incandescent will output between 1500-1750 lumens. A Metal Halide using 100w will output about 4000 lumens. I'm looking for CF/NO/HO/VHO outputs now...

edit:

Nevermind, I don't have time for this. Apparently there are problems with huge dropoffs of performance thoughout life of MH and other forms of lighting so some sources are going to quote lumens/watt when new, some will quote lumens/watt @ 40% life, and blah blah blah. There seems to be no consensus as to weither to quote lumens/watt including ballast or excluding ballast losses.

I have a degree in mechanical engineering and I don't want to do this anymore :lol:

any Electrical Engineers here?

 

[Skimmy]

i think you hit the nail on the head, better lights and a bigger skimmer,
for a six foot 22"deep tank i would think that 2 or 3 250w m.h. would be ideal, if you can build a canopy, you can save some cash and buy m.h. retro fit kits. or go t-5, they are great, less heat, but you wont get your good light shimmer, lol.
as for the skimmer check out the octopus n.w. 200...
and dont forget the high flow and r/o purified water!!

 

[Skimmy]

at what watt of light can u start keeping softies

watts per gallon is a really poor way to judge light levels for corals, but i would say that you would want at the very minimum at least 5 watts per gallon if your using power compact or flourescent lights.

there is a big difference between a coral just barely surviving and actually thriving and colonizing...