how many watts
- Thread starter eliteaqua
- Start date
pmike25
In Memoriam
Ohh boy!!:eek2:! Heres this question, like Joey says it varries with what you want to keep in the tank, ALOT of people will say the whole watts per gallon is a crock of crapola. What ya need to decide is what ya wanna keep and bascially go from there. Also depends on the depth of the tank. If you post what you like to keep than people can help you more, if I remember ya wanna keep a 75 tank. If ya did like 6 T5s or 2x175 to 250 MHs with T5s suppliments than bascially you can keep just about anything in there. I would personally go with the T5s or just 2x250 MHs with a couple of T5s suppliments for the atinics. Post up what ya wanna keep and the depth of your tank.
Oh and Happy Easter to you as well
Oh and Happy Easter to you as well
alizarin
New member
I think it's best to think of light in 3 dimensions - different lights will put out a sphere or box of light with different intensity light at different depths. The corals and clams you want to keep have certain light requirements that have to fit with the lights you get, where you want to place critters in the tank - some things can be happy at the top of a lower light tank but not the bottom for example. I go on this set of "rules":
For moderately intense light in a 24" circle per fixture
250W metal halides have 28" of light penetration
175W metal halides have 24" of light penetration
150w metal halides have 18" of light penetration
70w metal halides have 14" of light penetration
PCs won't go beyond 18"
NOs won't go beyond 6-10"
I'm not sure what T5's are but I'd guess something like 18-24" if they have the individual good reflectors. I have them and a 150w halide in my 16" deep tank and everything's well lit.
Most of the above is from research, not experience.
You mentioned zoos, mushrooms, and clams. Zoos and mushrooms will be happy in low light (depending on the species but usually that's true). Mushrooms sometimes actually require lower light. Clams, I've never kept but as I understand it they need allot of light - as in you'd probably want metal halides but somebody else could probably give you first hand experience.
I'd stay away from the nova fixture - do a search for "nova extreme" and "individual reflector" and you'll see people agree with me - the power of T5s is in their ability to have individual reflectors that focuses most of their light where you want it. The Nova fixture has one big reflector, not individual reflectors. I suppose it's better than getting PCs since you can get better color bulbs but it would probably have the same intensity as PCs. If you want to save money you can build your own with parts from diyreef.com... I did that pretty cheap.
For moderately intense light in a 24" circle per fixture
250W metal halides have 28" of light penetration
175W metal halides have 24" of light penetration
150w metal halides have 18" of light penetration
70w metal halides have 14" of light penetration
PCs won't go beyond 18"
NOs won't go beyond 6-10"
I'm not sure what T5's are but I'd guess something like 18-24" if they have the individual good reflectors. I have them and a 150w halide in my 16" deep tank and everything's well lit.
Most of the above is from research, not experience.
You mentioned zoos, mushrooms, and clams. Zoos and mushrooms will be happy in low light (depending on the species but usually that's true). Mushrooms sometimes actually require lower light. Clams, I've never kept but as I understand it they need allot of light - as in you'd probably want metal halides but somebody else could probably give you first hand experience.
I'd stay away from the nova fixture - do a search for "nova extreme" and "individual reflector" and you'll see people agree with me - the power of T5s is in their ability to have individual reflectors that focuses most of their light where you want it. The Nova fixture has one big reflector, not individual reflectors. I suppose it's better than getting PCs since you can get better color bulbs but it would probably have the same intensity as PCs. If you want to save money you can build your own with parts from diyreef.com... I did that pretty cheap.
Last edited:
pmike25
In Memoriam
OK now,,,you can do either T5s or MHs...question is and this is your personal prefferance,,,do you like the shimmer lines you get from MHs?? If so than go with 2 x 250s and T5s suppliments...If ya dont care about the shimmer than ya can go with 6 T5s HO's..I have a 120 which is 24 deep, and I have 8xt5s and I had a just about totally white (almost toast!!) coral it wasent even polyping and after about 3 weeks its now is blue/green and polyps like a mofo....I am VERY happy with my T5s..
markandkristen
Active member
also how much growth do you want. some people put 400 watter's on a 24" deep tank just to get more growth. with what your saying i would go with at least 175 watt mhs and either vho or t5 supplements.
pmike25
In Memoriam
Yes that is true, T5s are usually 6-8 months depending on the ballast used....Mhs I believe are alil longer also depending on the ballast...The MHs ya might wanna get a second opinion, Im not toooo familiar with them..I havent had them long enough on my old 180 to needed to change them
Ohh and theres no such thing as a stupid question, we all had to start from scratch at one point
Ohh and theres no such thing as a stupid question, we all had to start from scratch at one point
hexedagain
New member
Is that your way of trying to get a discount from him?:lol:
But really, why there?
