how many watts per gallon is needed?

[KYREEFMAN]

generally how many, to support all basic corals

 

[McTeague]

Watts per gallon is meaningless. You need sufficient lighting for the animal you are trying to keep.

 

[CoralCaps]

problem with watts per gallon (wpg) is that it breaks down really fast. 100w over a 50g is different than 100w over a 5g. then you have to take into account what kind of coral you want, if any.

the question is much deeper than just the wattage. also have to figure in what "kind" of light you are using (t5, mh, vho, pc, etc).

we need more information to help you.

 

[KYREEFMAN]

metal halide

metal halide

alright i have a 35 gal hex aga... im goin mh then maybe add some actinics on down the road.. im just wanderin on a 150w,175w 250w.. somthin cheap and wont overdo it..

 

[BurntOutReefer]

how deep is the tank? and what do you want to keep?....
with 250MH, you should be able to keep almost everything.

 

[McTeague]

Hex tanks tend to be deep and require stronger lighting.

 

[xenon]

Yep.

Depth is everything! The deeper your tank the stronger light is required to penetrate.

 

[Vinnie71975]

Im running 10.8 watts per gallon T5 over my 20g tank lol but i agree WPG is meaningless and with a 35g hex i would go 400 watt MH

 

[bertoni]

I'd probably put a 175 W fixture over a 35g hex. I have a 175 W Iwasaki bulbs in a Lumen Max 2 pendant, and it's bright enough for anything. 400 W sounds like extreme overkill unless the reflector and bulb are very inefficient.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11687797#post11687797 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xenon
Yep.

Depth is everything! The deeper your tank the stronger light is required to penetrate.

agreed--meaning the more wattage of the bulb the greater the penetration
my twin 150 watt halides max out at about 18 inches and then the light diminshes quite quickly

 

[KYREEFMAN]

thanks

thanks

thanks for the advice.. the tank is about 24 inches deep?

 

[bertoni]

That's not all that deep, in my opinion. 175 W or 250 W metal halide should be fine, with an efficient setup. T5 will work nicely as well, if you like the look and can find an appropriate setup.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11689935#post11689935 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bertoni
That's not all that deep, in my opinion. 175 W or 250 W metal halide should be fine, with an efficient setup. T5 will work nicely as well, if you like the look and can find an appropriate setup.

I agree--not all corals esp lps and softies do not light strong light so you need an area of moderate to low light
unless your going into heavy sps then the 175 watts will be great

the other consideration is heat ---if your running a canopy etc then you may not be able to go to the 250 or greater--it was the limiting factor in my setup and a big factor in moving the sump refug lighting ballasts to the basement.

 

[Achilles1208]

norm is 3-8 watt all depends on the corals ur gonna stock in ur tank sps need alot more than lps or softies

 

[Vinnie71975]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11688273#post11688273 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bertoni
I'd probably put a 175 W fixture over a 35g hex. I have a 175 W Iwasaki bulbs in a Lumen Max 2 pendant, and it's bright enough for anything. 400 W sounds like extreme overkill unless the reflector and bulb are very inefficient.

i said 400W because it is a 25 inch deep tank, i have one that was a planted FW and i had to run lights from the bottom(bare bottom tank) and the top just to keep my plants from dieing. i would just hate to see someone buy a 175w and then have to turn around and buy something else cause it aint strong enough.