Let there be light! but which ones?

Jakaru

Premium Member
I am completly lost here. This is an almost 60 gal tank. Dimensions are 30 inches across 24 tall and 18 deep. I am so lost because of the amount of differnt lights and the wattage and different spectrums. I have no direction here and no where to begin.

I would like to keep something in the tank. Just easy to moderate corals. Nothing too exotic or hard I just would just like to keep a more "live" look to the tank.

Thanks for the help.
 
sounds like pcs would work.
2x65 watts are ok for most softies.
and would prob. be good for starters.
thiers 30 inch lights that would fit on top with leg mounts.
jebo are cheap
i like orbit
 
look at the corals at liveaquaria.com...decide which ones you like and post here, then we'd be able to help you on what light to get.

but if you want to get a more "live" look...go for stuff like xenia..they add a lot of movement (waving back and forth) and other softies like that. If you were to go with those, you could prolly get by w/a 2x96 pc setup. But if you want stuff like anemones and harder corals, i'd say go for metal hallides.
 
i seriously recomend AGAINST jebo/oddysea (same brand). They're not well made and many people post back 3 months later asking why their light just stopped working, not to meantion they've been known to start fires.
 
There is an awesome thread written by Waterkeeper on here somewhere it explains a whole lot of things. I cant find it mabe someone can.
 
Look at the Current sunpod
It has twin 150 mh plus for that night time fun moon lights.
And they are nice!
with this set up you should be able to do most anything you want
or so I've be told.
 
I like the soft and the polyps. I love the ones that look like they are alive and swaying and moving and the colors. lol. Figures. I sound like a kid on a sugar kick.
 
lol i'm exactly like you. I personally dont care for those hard stoney corals very much. They've got some crazy color yes...but they just dont do anything lol...i like to see the whole tank moving..

But if thats all you want, like i say you can prolly get by with a 2x96. But that one with the metal halides would be better for sure. What can you afford? Its always easier to find out what i can spend and then look for my lights that way.
 
Let's see I have about 60 bucks in my pocket and hopefully another hundred or so after the sell of my filter so I guess that's about 160 ;) really I'm not looking for overkill and if I want to upgrade later I don't mind spending the cash but for now I was looking for basic and see if I can be sucsessfull and upgrading from there.
 
hmm so I'm at 65w max for my length. 24 I thought was a little deep but not sure so the question is how many 65w bulbs I would need to keep softies and polyps then? Any one have ideas? I'm guessing even if I need more pc it's probably still cheaper than mh and others.
 
well i dont know if the 2x65 is enough..so maybe look on the selling forum for eithe a 4x65 pc fixture, or maybe 2 seperate 2x65w ones. Or you could do retro fits. Those are easier to work w/imo. I've got a 4x96 retro over my 55. Its way easier than trying to find another light that i like (plus it was cheaper..i got it from someone on FRAG, so i got a good deal on it) and i can also just put it how i need it...i can arange the bulbs either side by side, or i can overlap them, i can have them side by side going the long way...just pretty much however.
 
oh my bad. Retros are just lights that dont have a fixture that they're set into...like you just have the reflector and the bulbs clip into the reflector, and then the balasts that run the bulbs are just by themselves. It allows you to get any sized bulb you want (thats still the same wattage anyways)

heres a pic of mine...as you can see i'm missing one of the actinic bulbs because it burned out, but you get the idea...the reflector can just be drilled into the hood, and then the bulb clips screw in to little holes on the reflector, and then the bulbs just clip in.

IMG_0149.jpg
 
hmm so I guess in order to do that I'd need a hood lol. Either that or hang some wood and attatch it to that but doubt my wife would look hapily upon that lmao.
 
I'd go with T5's. Lookup a tek 6 light kit. Cheaper than MH / Less power than MH / Less heat than MH. And you can keep anything. MH has a better look the water shimmers under the light.
 
ya i hung something from the seiling for a while...looked like crap tho because i just threw it together...i had to get light over it tho.

Less power than MH

i dont think thats true...if you've got like 100 watts of t5 and 100 watts of MH...100w is still 100w...however it probably takes less t5 to equal mh if thats what you mean?

And plus i just looked on a couple sites...there doesnt seem to be anything thats 30 inches long...theres 24, and theres 36. You could get a 24 inch retro and just overlap them...but like you say...you're gonna have to either get a canopy or rig something else up.
 
Yeah 100watts of Mh is nothing compared to 100watts of T5. The extra heat of MH creates is a problem for many as well.
 
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