Lighting vs. Lionfish

[StephLionfish]

I'm resetting up my 210g, and making it a large- bodied Lion tank. It will house my Volitan, and either a Russel's, a true Black Volitan, or a deep brown Volitan.
I'm a fan of macro algae in the display tank, and will have different kinds of macro and a few softies (nothing fancy) in there.
Of course, I want to light the tank up so it isn't dark in there like it is now, but I don't know how bright I can go ( I don't want a BRIGHT sps tank or anything crazy like that).... or what will penetrate through 2' of water. I had LED's over the tank once, and my deceased Volitan went blind under them. :headwally: I don't want that to happen again...
Suggestions?

 

[DoubleM 10]

i love my t-5 lights. thats what i would suggest

 

[StephLionfish]

I was thinking 2x 3' 4bulb T5's.. ( six foot tank). But, again, I don't want to end up with two big, blind Lionfish... It wasn't a very strong LED that blinded my Lion. Maybe I'm being too cautious... I'm not good with lighting.

 

[namxas]

We use T-5's over our volitans tank, half 10k, half actinic. It has 6 x 54W tubes on two switches, but we normally don't use both sets except for photos or other occasions where we need more light.

We're not really "going dim" due to worries about the lion's sight as much as conserving power (we're in the 5th pricing tier) and controlling macro growth.

 

[DoubleM 10]

I was thinking 2x 3' 4bulb T5's.. ( six foot tank). But, again, I don't want to end up with two big, blind Lionfish... It wasn't a very strong LED that blinded my Lion. Maybe I'm being too cautious... I'm not good with lighting.

im sure this idea would work perfect.

 

[jarrod13]

I had a similar setup as what your trying to create, a 220 with lions, scorps, and macro algae. I ran a 8 bulb PC fixture that worked great, although you can probably get away with a 6 or 4 bulb just fine. I got mine from eBay, I love their "cheap" lights, never had a problem with them, and they even have built in timers! I grew C. prolifera on the sandbed and it grew like crazy, actually thats the same algae I sent you when I took down that tank. How's it doing anyways?

 

[Boat_Drinks]

I had a similar issue with my 75g (temporary) zebra moray tank. Originally I was running 2 36" Marineland LED strips, along with a 2 bulb T5 (10k and actinic). My tank still had a "dark" feel to it, even though it was inappropriately bright for my pair of zebra morays.

To try something different, I painted the back of the tank a light sandy color, and it appears much brighter, even with just one 36" LED strip vs. two along with the T5s. Everything in the tank stands out a lot more than it did with the blue background, and I'm sure the eels are much, much happier! Anyway, I just thought I'd throw out another idea to go along with your lighting adjustments

Here is an "after" pic... I looked on my hard drive for some before shots, but must have misplaced or deleted them.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=5375&pictureid=37298

 

[teddyzaper]

couldve sworn i read lightning vs. lionfish, thought you were having a torture sesh. Anyways, GL i would go with 2x T5

 

[StephLionfish]

I had a similar setup as what your trying to create, a 220 with lions, scorps, and macro algae. I ran a 8 bulb PC fixture that worked great, although you can probably get away with a 6 or 4 bulb just fine. I got mine from eBay, I love their "cheap" lights, never had a problem with them, and they even have built in timers! I grew C. prolifera on the sandbed and it grew like crazy, actually thats the same algae I sent you when I took down that tank. How's it doing anyways?

Hm... eBay.. I hadn't though of looking there. Lights are going to kill me the most.. I mean, besides the sand ( Replacing CC with sand *gulp* ).
The macro is doing fabulously! I'll get some recent pictures of the tanks it all went in tomorrow. It's really filling my 20g Ciliata tank nicely...only, ever since she molted and changed color to match the C. Prolifera, I can never find her. :strange:

Here is an "after" pic... I looked on my hard drive for some before shots, but must have misplaced or deleted them.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=5375&pictureid=37298

That's an awesome looking tank! I love the "open- ness". My tanks look like sumps after seeing yours... :thumbsup:

couldve sworn i read lightning vs. lionfish, thought you were having a torture sesh. Anyways, GL i would go with 2x T5

That's terrible! lol
Thanks.

You know, I do find it strange that Lionfish can be out on the reefs mid-day and not get hurt by the sun... but mine went blind under the LED's that, honestly, weren't that bright. Hm.. all I know is that it scared the flippin' life out of me when I came home to my 9-10" baby SOLID crimson on the sand...

 

[StephLionfish]

Jarrod,
The day I added it. ( Excuse the really low water level. I ran outta water that day after a water change. )-

Today-

I don't have a before picture of this tank... because the tank was REALLY algae infested. But here's from today. ( ignore the fake coral. I want it out but the lion loves it. )-

And, of course the 210 has some. But, it's not very exciting to look at.... Since the box was so big ( not that I'm complaining! ), and I only wanted to put the small pieces in my other two tanks so I could see some growth, I just threw the macro along the front of the tank. The Codium melted, and my mantis stole most of the reds.
Thanks again for the macro!