newbiechris Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Can any one point me to a calculator for lighting levels for a reef tank please.. I am building up my collection of corals and anemones and need to improve my lighting arrangement. The tank is 1m wide x 600mm deep and 500mm front to back. Currently I have 3x 30w tubes (2x 14000k 1x20000k) which was good for a start but needs upgrading. If you any sugestions for wattage and colour I am most interested. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KP Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 I would leave them on there and just add a single 250W MH. That way it is upgradable agian by adding on another one in the future. I personally like the 14K as it has a decent amount of punch with a hint of blue. But with your setup maybe a 10K MH with blue fluros. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 I ran 2x250w de Mh on my last tank that was about that size (and a few T5 fluro's). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kermit Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Either 2x 150w/250w lamps would do, the 1 lamp will give you shaded spots at the ends of the tank. My tank is 1200L x 500W x 450D i use 2x 150w 10000K lamps and it works out well for my live stock but cos yours is 600D you may find you need to step upto 250w lamps, but that will depend on what you are keeping softies no problems with the 150w lamps, stonies only will most likely be ok if you possition them well but 250w lamps will be better, or a mix of soft/hard corals 150w lamps will probably be ok as the hard corals at the top and the soft corals down a bit lower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 If you go with 150 MH, I'm selling some http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/150-wa ... 14496.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 as kermit says, depends entirely what you're keeping. if a mixture of lps/sps and the sps are near the top of the tank, the 150W'ers that wasp is selling will work well - 3 of them would work really well over a 1 metre tank. if just sps and lots of them, 250W or better would really be required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 if just sps and lots of them, 250W or better would really be required. really? bugger i must be doing something wrong with my 150's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 really? bugger i must be doing something wrong with my 150's yes, really. i guarantee you'd get even better colour cookie if you upgraded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 i guarantee you'd get even better colour cookie if you upgraded been there done that. have downgraded! lost a bit of colour but growth has been awesome ever since. seen plenty where people increase the lights to get the most brilliant colours only to see growth stunned and/or the coral crashing (pink seriatepora hystix comes to mind). also the extra cost involved (incl. chiller some have to use them even in the winter ) having big bulbs is something many don't realise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 increase the lights to get the most brilliant colours only to see growth stunned and/or the coral crashing probably coz they got stunned from the sudden increase in light. my pink monti has done this. i've shortened the photoperiod on the left halide til it gets used to it incidentally, i tried a 6500K bulb this morning on the left side of the tank just outta interest (other bulbs are 14K). wow, mega-yellow! would be great for a fresh water tank but for saltwater, no way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/d_ ... 42698.html http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/s_ ... 60202.html http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/7/aafeature interesting reading in regards to lifspan of bulbs and spectrum etc. and also in the first link about alk. and colour changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 im sorry, but while some info in the first link is interesting, the majority of it is a crock of %@#$, specifically the Q&A section. the guy is ambiguous on his answers, contradicts himself and comes to some bizzare conclusions. probably something to do with the article being 8 years old - quite out of date. improvements on technologies in the last few years makes this link quite a dangerous source of information IMO. the info in the last 2 links is interesting however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 oh, and as I stated earlier the "wattage of lighting" required is entirely dependant on the corals you are going to keep. that goes as far as saying what types of SPS you keep. it would be foolish to say "all SPS require intense lighting so you must have 400W". however i think providing a higher wattage (intensity) of lighting (say 250 or 400) allows you to keep a larger selection of corals AND provide them with what they require. placement of those corals will then dictate the amount of light they receive. SPS with larger lighting demand can be placed higher in the tank while less demanding corals can be placed lower. probably more common sense than anything else? additionally, the last link contradicts the first's author... Danna Riddle is working with new light device that guides him to say that maybe we are using to much light in our tanks because corals use all the light that they need and after that everything is useless. Did you hear about his new work? how this sound to you? I have responded to Dana first article about this in the online magazine AAOLM (Note: AAOLM is Advanced Aquarist Online Magazine, found at http://www.advancedaquarist.com). Check the message board concerning his article for some responses. There were quite a few difficulties with collecting the data and other reef specialists such as Borneman and Harker also had some issues. The problem with PAM Fluorimeters in general is that they were not designed with the peridinin pigment in mind. They're use on stony corals zoox has produced mix results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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