[tomc1980]

I eventually plan to keep soft coral and hard coral in my tank i was wondering how many watts of light i will eventually need for my 55 gallon tank to keep em happy? Any help will be much appreciated.

[Jeremy0322]

I would assume for some softies around 3-4 watts per gallon. For hards i think it is 4-5 watts per gallon and clams are 6. Those numbers may be 1 watt high or low but for the most part i believe they are correct. If you got around 350 watts over the tank you could keep anything your heart desired.

[tomc1980]

Thanx a ton only running 50/50 lighting now but im planning to get my t-5 fixture next week so i was trying to figure out how much to get with out overkilling lol.

[dfurbee]

Thomas,
Your T5 fixture should be plenty! That is what I have, and all of my corals, including SPS are doing fine. Don't have a clam in the tank yet. Never really wanted one.

[tomc1980]

Hehe i want a clam my lfs has some really awesome looking ones.

[Adam J]

I was planning on ordering the nova extreme pro t5 6x39w.Is that to much for a 30g?

[Jeremy0322]

That is almost 8 watts per gallon, i dont think i have ever heard anyone say this on here but that may just be too much light. You can save money and get a 4x39 and still have over 5 watts per gallon, just a thought though.

[dfurbee]

Jeremy is right, that would be too much light, it might bleach out your corals.

[Adam J]

Did you say to much light?I.....I.....don't know what to say.Did you say SAVE money?Again I'm stunned.(lol)Sorry for highjacking Thomas.Please forgive me.

[Jeremy0322]

Its like those Tanguray(spelling) commercials. Some things need to be done in moderation. Like would be like taking 1000 gph in a 10 gallon tank, it is just a little much for what you need.

[reefnoob1991]

watts per gallon has nothing to do with what you can keep, it has to do with where you locate your corals in your tank and the depth of your tank. For instance, metal halides do better than any other lighting when tasked with cutting through 18" or more of water.

[tomc1980]

Hehe no worries Adam ive been guilty of threadjacking myself got some good info from your post anyway

[robe25m]

One can never have enough light!! Its always about coral placement and water depth....

If you play the numbers game I have over 10 watts per gallon....

Get the light with more watts, better piece of mind with SPS, clams etc...Softys will always adapt and thrive when placed correct...

Simply put research all coral and stay away from exotic hard to keep stuff, for instance i would never try to keep a flower pot, but anything can be done depending on tank setup...

One of the best tanks I ever did see was a 55g reef powered by 2 250 watt MH and random Actnics

[NATIVEVAMAN]

There quite simply has to be a point at which there is to much light.Especially when the corals being lit come from depths of over about ten feet.At wattages above 8 wpg gallon substancial bleaching may occur.Some people may say there corals and clams do great at 10 wpg but my question has always been,"how great would they be doing if they were not in a toaster oven"?T-5 ho is more than capable of good growth down to 20 inch's and t-5 vho is good down to 29 inch's.In europe where they are years ahead of us in lighting technology you couldnt give away a pair of metal halides.They are nothing but the last decades technology.Metal halides are wasteful not only in the electricity thay use to create light but also in the electricty used for allied equipment needed to keep the tanks from becoming fish soup like chillers and fans.

[robe25m]

Your point is mute! Sure there are many factors, so many you really cant even ask this question....

Of course there is a lighting ceiling, same questions can be said regarding flow and everything else...

MH lights are great and really arent that costly, I mean this hobby cost a ton!!, Saltwater FOWLR tanks are for everyone, Reefs are not.....

Wow the Euros have better lighting hardware, how does this matter to the guy that just needs a good light in America for a 55 gallon tank.. I guess you should ask him if he drives a BMW too???

Why bash MH lights when most users love them and the reefs they provide?? Sure T5s are great and most likely a good buy for a 55g..

I think you will find Chillers are needed related to tank location, where in the world, where in the house, hood, fans, size etc more so then the light..The CPU your PC uses cooks but it doesnt melt your PC now does it, correct tank setup is a must..

and yes i'm a theif with a great reef tank

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I just looked thru a 4 sale thread on another reef forum and found 15 instances of metal halide fixtures for sale,I also found one t-5 fixture and 3 cf fixtures.Now this isnt by any means a scientific survey but it does indicate that 15 people are not happy with there metal halide lighting and only one is unhappy with his t-5 ho lighting.It also indicates that you can get a cheap mh fixture used but if you want t-5 you will more than likely have to buy new.It leaves one to wonder why are so many people unhappy with there metal halide lighting?Could it be because mh is just to darn expensive to operate.Could it be that the bulbs are only good for 6 months and at a minimum of 80$'s a bulb twice a year that they are to expensive?It has long been known that t-5 is less expensive to operate.Many states are outlawing incandescent lighting in favor of the less expensive less wasteful flourescent lighting.
The average life of a t-5 bulb is 2 years.the average life of a mh bulb is 6 months.So if you had 200 watts of both over a 2 year span you would spend 125$'s on t-5 and 320$'s on mh.And that would be the most expensive t-5 and the cheapest mh.If we address versatility and you have the same 200 watts oh mh or t-5 you can have one mh bulb or 6 36 inch t-5's.you can mix and match the t-5's to get the look you like and the best coral growth and have your choice of 7 bulb colors to do it.With mh you can have 8 color choices but only one bulb.As far as heat is concerned you can rest your hand on a t-5 fixture for as long as you like,on a mh fixture serious burns would be instantanious.(of course I do not recomend going around grabbing light fixture to prove my point lol).As always sound logic and good research will dictate what kind of lighting you buy.

[tomc1980]

Thanks for the info i dont like the power consumption on the MH lights after doing some research on my own. Will be going with a T-5 system.

[Adam J]

What system are you looking at?I ask because I'm looking too.

[tomc1980]

Honestly im not too sure yet im still looking around and trying to find a quality system with a decent price. My lfs has a t-5 set up for $185 dollars with bulbs but i forget the name of the system ill be going down there on Friday ill post the brand then and you can look at it and tell me what you think. Any suggestions on a good system would be greatly appreciated as well. Because as of right now im only running 50/50 lights but that should be ok being that i only have live rock in the tank for the time being anyway since my tank is still cycling.

[reefnoob1991]

The stunning beauty of seeing the shimmer of the water, which mimics the actual ocean (watched planet earth and discovered how close metal halides were to real ocean light) and how good the corals do I wouldn't go any other way. I have about 6.7 WPG and the bulbs only need to be replaced once a year which would leave me at about 60-80$ or if i got them off another reef site for cheaper.

[Adam J]

Because of heat I'm going with t5 s.

[jimw369]

AAAhhh...watts is a measurement of energy not light. Watts cannot be used to determine how much light you have simply because its not a measurement of light. Lumens/par are measurements of light and is what you need to be concerned with. Along with that info is the fact that T5s yield 1.8 lumens per watt and MH yields 1 lumens per watt so...if you have a T5 fixture with 216 watts it yields 388 lumens. Almost the same as a 400 watt MH.

What my own experience has taught me ( which is what really matters and not all this reading and research we all talk about) is 216 watts of T5 lighting (or 388 lumens) can be plenty of light for all clams and most sps corals to grow and grow well. T5 lighting in a 9 bend reflector 4 " off the water will cover 6 inches of water in your tank. 4 bulbs over a
20" deep tank is plenty and adding more bulbs just over saturates the tank with light and is wasted. The only need for more bulbs is to achieve certain lighting effects and colors.

It is also important to know that the lumens/par really drops off fast after 24" deep for T5 lamps. Deeper tanks do need the point source light that MH can provide if higher light animals are going to be placed in the substrate or low in the tank.

The only way to know what is really going on your tank is to test your lighting with a quantum meter. Every tank is different. I was really surprised to find very large differences in par/lumens levels at the same depth at different places in my tank considering T5 bulbs stretch across the entire tank.

Maybe this post will help somebody. Good luck.

[Adam J]

Is 4 39w t5 s over a 16'' deep tank good?Bad?non of the above?

[selliott]

I am also running over 10 watts per gallon on my 72. You just need to be careful of the placement of corals in your tank. Have your SPS closer to the top but have your lower light corals toward the bottom. No watts per gallon isn't an exact science (especially with deep tanks) but it's a good rule of thumb just as a starting point.