Lighting questions for beginner

[yankeeslover]

46 gallon FOWLR... right now i have two clown fish and multiple snails and crabs as a cleanup crew... My setup came with a 36 inch coralife t5 ho lightkit.. I belive it has a 10,000k t5 ho light and another actinic bulb.. when lamp is on both bulbs are running at the same time.. I dont know anything about bulbs and lights.. are these decent bulbs to use? i wish there was a way to run one at a time but this corallife only has one switch.
Anyways, for now im running a fowlr.. How many hours per day should I keep these bulbs on? for me, does it have any pros, cons to use or not use these bulbs during the day outside of just viewing the fish every now and then.? and if i choose at a later date to get some beginner soft corals its the same question, how long do i keep the lights on/off with hardy corals? thanks much.....

 

[DSMpunk]

They probably arent the greatest lights, but you could probably grow some sinularia or the like.

With just a FOWLR the lighting schedule isnt too important. It really comes down to when you want to have them on for viewing.

 

[rt67ghy]

I think 5 hours a day would be sufficient for the health of your fish.

 

[Coralreefer1]

Lighting at your current time is not very critical since you are not maintaining corals that host zooxanthellae. Turning the lights on for a short period of time to allow you to view the inhabitants in your tank for a couple of hours is fine. Leaving lights on for an extended period of time, under your conditions, invites unwanted micro algae and Cyanobacteria.
As for your question regarding lighting duration once you introduce corals into your bio load, it depends on the species of coral for one. But lighting represents only part of the equation! Variables such as turbidity, filtration, water parameters and placement within the confines of your tank, all, can have a significant effect on coral health, growth and maintenance. Ensuring that optimum levels are met regarding these variables and coral placement allows for gradual PUR to be achieved without photo inhibition carrying out.

 

[rt67ghy]

Actually lighting is necessary for fish in a fish-only aquarium. The minimum required for the health of a fish is 5 hours. Here is a link which discusses it
http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/marine-aquarium-basics-full-article.htm

Quote:
"Lighting for Fish
Most marine-aquarium fishes prefer quite bright lighting and may behave nervously or more aggressively in dimly lit tanks. There is a reason for this: In the wild, reef fishes tend to be active either during the day (when the light is usually bright) or at night. Diurnal fishes (those fishes that are active during the day) are adapted to avoid diurnal predators, but at night, they hide themselves away and tend to sleep deeply, even having evolved defenses to prevent nocturnal predators from detecting their scent, such as sleeping in mucus cocoons in the case of many parrotfishes and wrasses. Night-shift fishes, in contrast, are adapted to life in the dark and tend to hide during the day. Twilight, the transition between day and night, which is well-represented by a dimly lit aquarium, is a nervous time for diurnal fishes, as nocturnal predators begin to emerge, hence the jittery and sometimes aggressive behavior.
The take-home message from this is that for most fishes, bright lighting is best."

 

[ericarenee]

t5 lights are actually great. 2 Bulbs would not be enough for that tank size for growing many corals. But some low light corals could do ok...
Just remember if you got them new just get some new Bulbs the bulbs should be changed every 6-8 months depending on hours you run them.

OHH And the 1 switch would prob mean they are on 1 ballast . i know my t5 lights run two per ballast.... M/H Lights are the best but are much more expensive to operate and you sometimes need to fight the heat the produce depending on your tank setup.. I know mine will give you a sun burn in a few minutes or so working under them.

 

[kmbyrnes]

I have that same light. It worked pretty well on my 12G nano. Not sure how it will do on a 46. You can probably do mushrooms and some zoas way up high.

 

[Azedenkae]

Bubble Corals would probably do well too.

 

[Coralreefer1]

Look into getting an LED lighting fixture. The prices have come down, they are very advanced, require very low electric consumption and are cool running!

 

[ericarenee]

Look into getting an LED lighting fixture. The prices have come down, they are very advanced, require very low electric consumption and are cool running!

Anything worthy to penetrate the water to the depth of his tank is going to be 300 plus each fixture and he will need two minimum .

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Anything worthy to penetrate the water to the depth of his tank is going to be 300 plus each fixture and he will need two minimum .

Sure you can pay that if you want. You can get 165W Dimmable LED Aquarium Grow Light Full Spectrum FishTank Reef Coral LPS SPS on Ebay for $83 shipping included

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/190999433320?lpid=82&chn=ps

I've got a buddy here that has a side business of selling frags of all types but mostly SPS and LPS he uses these and has had no problems at all with them.

If I hadn't just purchased new bulbs for my T5 I would have bought one. You can bet I'll gt one of these when it's time for bulb replacement.

 

[CStrickland]

Anything worthy to penetrate the water to the depth of his tank is going to be 300 plus each fixture and he will need two minimum .

What makes you say that?
I have the ones kuhlman linked and at 40% they are plenty bright all the way 2 feet to the bottom of my tank. I also think one would be fine, the corners might be a little dim unless you hung them high but it could totally work. They cover about 2 feet square. They aren't top of the line, and don't replicate a thunderstorm, but people who have actually used these lights are very happy with them.

But for op the ones you've got are probs fine until you get all settled in and have time to research an upgrade.

 

[ericarenee]

What makes you say that?
I have the ones kuhlman linked and at 40% they are plenty bright all the way 2 feet to the bottom of my tank. I also think one would be fine, the corners might be a little dim unless you hung them high but it could totally work. They cover about 2 feet square. They aren't top of the line, and don't replicate a thunderstorm, but people who have actually used these lights are very happy with them.

But for op the ones you've got are probs fine until you get all settled in and have time to research an upgrade.

i Just do not think the cheap leds are good enough Yet.. I WOULD Love to switch to leds. but going to wait for now...

 

[Dkuhlmann]

i Just do not think the cheap leds are good enough Yet.. I WOULD Love to switch to leds. but going to wait for now...

You would be thinking wrong. I know for a fact they work and work well. Pretty sure I said about my reefer buddy with a second buinsess of raising and selling frags and has several of these in use.

 

[ericarenee]

You would be thinking wrong. I know for a fact they work and work well. Pretty sure I said about my reefer buddy with a second buinsess of raising and selling frags and has several of these in use.

Here is my thing... The place where i often buy corals and fish have led lights .Similar to these but a nice brand name that uses cree chips..The colors of the corals are Wrong under there lights.I think this is because of the warm white . red and green light bulbs... I have never seen a FULL SPECTRUM SUN.
I BOUGHT A Coral Monday they were calling a Blue mushrooms. In fact they are not blue but Purple.... Same with some zoas and i got a waving hand coral from the same tank..there tank it looks a light color. Under my M/H Lights its color is bright and more vivid and true to its natural color in my Opinion..
Same for fish. I have seen say a yellow or brown tang under leds . they look whitish and washed out on the yellow and a tan color on the scopes . In my tank the yellow is Bright yellow the Scopes is a very beautiful light brawn to a Drak brown in the back of the fish..

But i am thinking about ordering 3 led fixtures to try. From a company similar to where yours came from where you can get the colors you want used...

Of Course we can agree to Disagree. But as you know and have commented there is a huge group of threads on this subject

OP SORRY For putting our disagreement in your thread. I apologize and will shup now..

 

[CStrickland]

I agree with that. Especially the yellows wash out compared to full spectrum sunlight or mh bulbs. You can see it on my ywg too like how his blue freckles pop.

It's tough when the question is "what's good enough?" There will be diff opinions and budgets and all that. Each way has good and bad, I just didn't want op to get the idea that for led's unless they had two $300 lights their coral wouldn't grow at all or their fish would die because the light wouldn't penetrate.

 

[ericarenee]

I agree with that. Especially the yellows wash out compared to full spectrum sunlight or mh bulbs. You can see it on my ywg too like how his blue freckles pop.

It's tough when the question is "what's good enough?" There will be diff opinions and budgets and all that. Each way has good and bad, I just didn't want op to get the idea that for led's unless they had two $300 lights their coral wouldn't grow at all or their fish would die because the light wouldn't penetrate.

You are right . I agree led lights will Grow coral and the fish will look ok..As you said i think it all depends on Budget and where you are willing to Compromise ..We all . well most of us compromise somewhere. For me I build almost all of my Equipment stand did all my plumbing and so on...But i do know for some that is not within there skills...
Sometimes we each can be too aggressive in our opinions.
There are just some newbie people in this hobby who have never had a Tank under m/h lighting and are kicking them because They Consume more power and do not have the Gadgets to control them....

The op has good Lights to start with . I think that was is Question as to rather switch or update his current lights by adding more..

I think a Awesome Light fixture would have m/H LIGHTS With t5 actinic and led moon and accent lights ...being on a Controller. so first thing in the morning the Accent lights. Come on slowly as the moon lights fade.. Then the T5 lights come on one at a time until they are full bring. then the m/h for about 5 hours in middle of the day and reverse thru the evening..
I have my t5 and m/h working similar.. This will stop the bright burst of instant light the m/h give.. But my Canopy is a rats nest of wires that most would run from..

 

[Azedenkae]

I guess it is true that it depends how one defines 'good enough'.

For me something is 'good enough' is when it can play its part in maintaining and growing desired photosynthetic organisms. By that definition plenty of lights out there is good enough. I once had Bubble Corals with those little LED lights in betta tanks. But that is just because Bubble Corals don't need much light at all. So yah...