lighting

[joseperezred]

Hello everyone,
Im new to the hobbie and to this website ive had my tank since February of this year. its a 40gal Odessea same as the Jebbo anyhow i was wondering if anyone can help me with my lightning system. I want to be able to put soft corals in my tank but i dont believe i have the right lighting. Right now i have 2x65w pc one is actinic and the other is 10k daylight. ive been looking into a retrofit 18inch sunpaq quad bulb 96watt and was wondering if this would be enough to keep soft corals. the demension of my tank depth is 20inches. thank you for your help.

 

[spamreefnew]

if its only softies you want then you are FINE...i would say just buy 2 "quality" lamps like coralifes, i might run one 12000k and one 50/50 1200k@act.

 

[adambirk]

if i were you i would buy the best lighting you can afford. i said the same thing when i started out and have upgraded my lighting many times. it would have been so much cheaper to just get the best lighting to begin with. so if i were you i would go with some t5s or a metal halide pendant over that tank. a 250 watt with a 20k bulb would look great on there and you can pick one up on the used equipment forum for probably less ot equal to what you are going to pay for new pc's and you will have lighting you can keep anything under. i know how you feel now but if you are going to stay in this hobby it is only a matter of time till you upgrade lighting and this way will save you some money.

 

[joseperezred]

So ur saying my wattage is fine just change the spectrum?

 

[amonchak]

Your spectrum is fine. Typically corals show the best color under 14000-20000K (14K-20) lampss and best growth with ~6500K to 10000 K lamps.

The 6500K is yellowish, the 10000K is white, 14000K is blue/white and the 20000 K is most blue. Any lampss that are in the above mentioned spectrums will be fine for the corals (softies) you are looking to keep. The difference in spectrum is more of a color prefference.

 

[joseperezred]

Ok I understand what you mean about buying the best lighting possible (metal halide) but the only problem is that my tank is like the jeboR376 by the way its a bowfront tank and it has a plastic cover and it looks unpleasent if I remove the lid. I am trying to use what I got by using a retrofit kit and have the best lighting possible. Also would you happend to know if a 24w T5 high output is better than what I have now? (65W PC). Once again I want to thank everyone for ur quick replies

 

[amonchak]

The 24w of t5 will not be equal to the 65w pc.

If you use similar wattages the t5's IMO out shine the pc's. Typically t5's have a greater PAR deeper in the tank, assuming you are using a reflector, than pc's.

The t5 lamps will be a better choice IMO but the pc you have now with quality bulbs should be fine for soft corals.

One other thing to consider is that typically pc bulbs have a shorter usable life span (8-12 months) that t5's (12-18 months).

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Your current PC's are fine for softies. Just change the lamps every 9 months or so and use good lamps

 

[joseperezred]

Ok sound good to me. Now one last question I'm currently running brand new 65watt.dual current usa 460nm/420nm and coral life 10k. Would you say those are good bulbs?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Those aren't bad lamps. I used a current 11K with a current 460 blue when I first started with reefs and that combo looked really good plus the 460 blue was a good dusk/dawn look.

 

[joseperezred]

OK well you've been really helpfull to me. Just wanted to say thank you for your time. i posted a pic of my lighting so you can see how they look.
Thanks! Jose

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Looks like you might have the 420/460 combo blue. Next time go for the 460 only, The 420 which is actinic is the more violet colored on and doesn't really provide much PAR for your critters to grow. I know a few people who have tried the combo blue and they all thought the 460 was better. The white looks like the 10K which is fine.

 

[joseperezred]

Okay ill keep that in mind thanxs! Jose