72 Gal BF - FOWLR lighting etc?

[Young4life]

What kind of lighting would be suitable for a 72 gal BF - FOWLR?

I'm not sure what would be best, having read the setting up a saltwater tank article, it says minimum 2.5-3 wpg?

Ultimately, this will eventually turn into a reef tank however, that will be a ways down the road because I want to work on my maintence and upkeep and learn more about keeping my saltwater tank before making it a full reef.

I have some lighting around consisting of 130 watt PC, a spare 96 watt PC and a T-5 Daylight. Will this be exceptable for the well being of my inhabitants, rock etc?

One more question, is it necessary to get a UV sterilizer?

Thx in advance

Alex

 

[zimmy1979]

For a FOWLR tank you need about 3WPG. If you plan on upgrading to a full blown reef tank get the most amount of light possible even though you don't need it now. If the tank is going to be a FOWLR then it would probably be fine to keep a UV sterilizer but I heard some negatives about keeping it in a Reef tank. I guess you can always remove it later but if you keep up on water changes and have stable water parameters you should be fine.

 

[AllenFord_SC]

T-5's or PC lighting looks great on FOWLR tanks. Go with a retro kit so later on down the road you can adjust for your MH lighting. Dr Foster and Smith's website is great for purchasing retro fit supplies. As for the UV sterilizer, read this article:

http://www.pacificeastaquaculture.com/Filtration.aspx

About half way down he talks about UV sterilizers and Ozonizers.

 

[lbear]

For T5 ho, what's your recommandation of wattage and bulb for this tank?

Is it good to mix VHO and T5 here?

 

[WaterKeeper]

Not really a good plan mixing VHO with T5 they both work and look the same but the T5 gives you more bang per watt. With a FO tank even 1 or 2 watts per gallon can work but if you plan to add coral in the near future then I would look at much more, 6+ watts/ gallon. One of the advantages of T5 is you can pack a lot of them into a canopy. That means you can add to it as you desire to add inverts to the tank develops. See the Lighting Thread for more.