lighting

gxrr600

New member
I'm currently using a 48 pc with 2 65wt 10000k and 2 65wt actinic, is it enough lighting for sps. my tank is a 72 gal. bow front. any suggestions for lighting?
 
Depending on what you want, it might be enough for SPS's like Montipora placed medium to high in your tank. Might not be strong enough lighting for things like acro. If you can get a frag for free from someone you can use that peice as a "tester" to see if it will do fine under your lighting.
 
SPS will not do well with that setup IMO. You could try some low-light SPS but you will have to put them as high as possible and directly below the bulb.

eee
 
what are your tanks deminsions? I dont think he can use the 72" fixture. you look at t5 ho lighting, or a couple of halide pendants
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6978861#post6978861 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gxrr600
what would be the cheapest approach to better lighting?

I would research T5's. If I had it to do all over again (well T5's weren't available when I started) I would do T5's if I wasn't going with MH. They are far superior to PC's and some argue that they are on par with MH.

eee
 
They are two completely different light setups. There are pros and cons to each. Some of the major factors are T5's - less heat, can be placed closer, cheaper (I think). MH - proven track record, pinpoint source of light ( you can have higher strength light right below it, and less strength to the side - good for different light requirement corals), "shimmering effect". HTH some.

eee
 
T5 ho will save you money in the run they use less power, the bulbs are cheaper and they last longer, some people report getting over a year out of there bulbs. Reefgeek.com sells the sunlight supply fixtures. Look and see how big of a fixture you can get, 2, 4, or 6 bulb fixture depending on the depth of your tank before you hit the bow.
 
With T5's you shouldn't need to use a chiller, though with MH you most likely will, or have a fan blowing across your sump evaporating a lot of water each day.

eee
 
What were there reasons for saying so? Some of the reasons posted in this thread for the advantages of T5's over MH can be carried over to T5's vs. PC's also. I can't think of any quality that PC's have over T5's (though I'm sure there are a couple).

eee
 
There is no cheap way to do SPS. For a 70 gallon bow plan on $500 for lights minimum. You may save a couple bucks and come in below that, but not by much.
 
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