Lighting for 240 gal FOWLR-aggressive

[Cord]

I am setting up a new 240 (96x24x24"). My question is about lighting. I won't be keeping corals. I was wondering what most of you guys use for good viewing of fish. PC, NO flourescent, VHO, 50/50, daylight? Have you had any bad experience with lights that you would not recommend?

And do I not need to worry about coraline algae growing on the glass if I don't add calcium? This is currently a big pain in my reef tank.

Chime in. I know there is lots of good experience out there.

 

[drunktank]

I use Coralife PCs for my tank.

 

[Patchy]

lighting is really up to you. doesnt affect most fish( some will like lower lighting).

If you want lots or coraline on your rock get better lighting. Most people seem to use PC's on FOWLR's.

 

[flyingace2005]

I personally prefer t-5s for fish only tanks. If you cant afford it normal florescents will do. I dont think pcs are worth the money IMO. You dont need an extensive setup just a couple of bulbs. T-5s bring out the fishes colors alot better. I look at it as this, if you are setting up a tank that is focused around the fish, you should get lighting that is enought that you can enjoy the fish as much as possible.

 

[LRS078]

You can play around with different color temperature bulbs but for something with 24" tank depth your best bet is single tube PC. 2x 48" strips will do just fine. You can do double or triple fluorescent but the price and light output are similar to PC and the size/bulk/life is better on the PC's IMO.

Its not that T5's are bad....just overkill. With a variety of bulbs (6K to 10K, actinic, etc) you should be able to find a bulb that suits. See if the LFS you intend to buy from will show you the different lights over a tank of similar depth.

YOUR eye will tell you more than anything anyone here can write.

 

[viggen]

I have never used T5's but I have tried HO, VHO, PC's & MH

Always had great luck with MH lights. I use 2 - 250w MH on my 260g which is 6x2.5x2.5

I would just throw 2 or 3 175mh's on there. I prefer the affect that MH's put in the watter with the flickering it has or whatever it's called. When I had my 150g & actually a 240g this is what I did. 2 175w on the tank & it was plenty however my 240g wasn't 8ft long I went with 250's because my 175's will be put on my reef tank & the 250's were purchased used here on RC

 

[moggyhill]

I use t5's in my 300 aggressive fowlr. They last a long time, provide great color, and are cool temperature wise.

 

[Cord]

Lots of great opinions here. Thanks to all for your input. There is so much written about lighting for reef tanks, but all that you see written about fish only tanks is "fish don't need light, use whatever appeals to you". But I wan't good color rendition, yet I don't wan't to blast my fish, and grow hair algae.

How many watts of T5 do you think for a 240?

Also, in a somewhat related question what would you illuminate a sump compartment with chaetomorpha. Does it need intense reef like light, or just 2-3 flourescent reef bulbs?

Thanks all!

 

[moggyhill]

I have 8 4foot 54 watt t5's over an 8 foot tank. I would use whatever you want in the sump. It really doesn't seem to matter so much for the macro algae.

 

[Jim_S]

6-8 54 watt retros should work great. I use 4 on my 125 FOWLR. Like moggyhill said, they last a long time and they give great color.

These are about as plug-in and play as you can get: http://www.reefgeek.com/products/categories/lighting/104932.html

Jim