Enlighten ME......lighting question

thekeyofb

New member
Greetings everyone:

I have a 75 gallon tank and I am curious to know. How many watts of light minimum should I have to make sure that light reaches the bottom of my tank?
 
It will.

Light does not get pushed by the light behind it....it travels until it hits something. If your water is clean, and you can focus enough light down there for your creatures, then they'll be fine.
 
Well, I have glass tops on my aquarium. Will that effect the light reaching the bottom of the aquarium? I plan on placing a plate coral on my sand bottom and I want to make sure that it has enough light.
 
If you have salt creep on the glass it will cause a shadow, and the feint filtering effect of the glass will have a very slight shadowing effect. That's all.
 
depends on what you are keeping. if you are keeping a FOWLR, it doesn't matter how much light you have in your tank.
 
Well, I do plan on keeping some corals (mushrooms, polyps, etc). However, the reason that I am asking about the lighting specifically is that I plan on placing a plate coral on my sandbed. Will 288 watts be enough to reach it on the bottom of the tank?

Just a note: I refuse to run MH lighting and I do not want an open top. So, what options do I have using t5 lighting with glass tops (no salt creep on my tops)?
 
The glass will get water spots and salt, all will affect how the light penetrates. You will have to clean it regularly for optimum performance
 
Thanks for your input everyone. However, every forum that I have gone to usually does this same thing. I will ask a specific question and get no answer to that question.

1. I know that I need to keep my glass clean
2. I know that I need to change my bulbs after a period of time
3. I know that most people like to advocate MH lighting

Now, knowing the thing that I know, I have been running these lights with these glass tops since I got this aquarium almost a year now. There has never been any water spot on the glass tops as the heat from the lights and the temperature of the water prevents that. The only time that there can be condensation is when the room temperature is cold enough. I control that. Salt creep is not a problem either on my glass tops as that happens due to condensation and evaporation as well. Also, I clean my tank once a month anyway.

With that said, does anyone know the answer to my question? I plan on keeping some corals (mushrooms, polyps, etc). However, the reason that I am asking about the lighting specifically is that I plan on placing a plate coral on my sandbed. Will 288 watts be enough to reach it on the bottom of the tank and support the plate coral?

ps....I don't want to come off as being a smart butt or anything like that, but I would really like an answer to the question if anyone know. thanks.
 
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