new lights!!! (picture intense)

[fish 511]

Well, I finally got some lights! I got the coralife power compact retrofit 4x65w. Its a 48" and I love it so far. I have never posted pictures here, so bare with me.

Here are the lights turned off, mounted in the hood.

Here they are turned on they're bright!

Then a FTS:

Here is the difference between actinic and daylight/actinic. One of the daylight bulbs was cracked, so I had to return it...

Here's a view from the side

My nemo...still working on the livestock as you can tell

And then this shows how far the lights sit from the water. Do you think I will need fans?

I sure hope these turn out ok. LMK what you guys think.

 

[fish 511]

Also, what corals do you guys think I could keep successfully under these? THANKS

 

[zma21]

PC's aren't exactly potent, so i would stick to easy corals. You should be able to get away with softies, but i would'nt try LPS or SPS under those.

 

[Icefire]

softy and non photosyntic lps

 

[t-bone2]

i would change the atinic bulbs over to the the same as the other then suppliment with another fixture for your atinics then you could keep more types of coral softies lps even some sps at the top clams probably will not survive for to long though good luck

 

[matttaylor]

You'll be able to keep softies and LPS. Your lights work out to about 5 watts per gallon, which would be more than enough for any softie, and most LPS. However since you're still learning, i'd stick with easier LPS to start, such as hammers, frogspawnns and brains.

 

[fish 511]

you think just softies would be good? Im talking the easy stuff...Ive never kept coral before. Do you think I will need fans??

 

[zma21]

Throw watts out the gallon though, because it doesn't mean crap. 5 watts of T-5 > 5 watts of PC

 

[fish 511]

Ok, I get the point about T5 vs. PC...

 

[t-bone2]

ive seen lots of sucssess with pcs softies are probably your best start

 

[badfish]

Ditch the canister filter. They are nitrate traps. Or you could clean the media frequently.

 

[fatrip]

very tough to call what corals will do good, maybe on the center peak and the right peak for LPS to do alright, and softies pretty much all over the tank. when you start to get deeper in the tank, the PC lighting just does not penitrate the water with the same wave lengths as a MH or a T5, in turn i would not reccomend and SPS, but i would do what t-bone2 has said change the actonic on that fixture to the current bulbs and get a second fixture for the actonic, it will give you a little more light penitration.

 

[mattc183]

thanks for posting the pics, I've been debating whether to get that setup or not. still not decided. Tank is looking good so far, what are your plans for it? You must be a very patient person.
Changing bulbs and additional actnic supplementation is good future advice, but not neccessary.

 

[SaltyDr]

Monitor your temps. My guess is that you will need to get fans.

 

[mg426]

I kept LPS under PCs for two years. Just keep them in the upper half of your tank.

 

[UnderCoverDork]

its all about the shimmer

 

[fish 511]

Thanks guys for the responses. I only want to keep softies for now, maybe an LPS or two. As for the canister filter, I have turned it into a mini refugium. I took out all the crap inside it and just put in LR rubble. What do you guys think I should get first? I am thinking either pulsing xenia or GSPs. What do you guys think??

 

[fish 511]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9737324#post9737324 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mattc183
thanks for posting the pics, I've been debating whether to get that setup or not. still not decided. Tank is looking good so far, what are your plans for it? You must be a very patient person.
Changing bulbs and additional actnic supplementation is good future advice, but not neccessary.

Sure thing. I must say, I was impressed with this whole setup. The stuff was good quality, and it looked really slick. It also came with the reflector drilled, wood screws, and spacers to mount the thing into your hood. I think it will be perfect for softies and easy LPS, which is what I'm aiming for. My only complaint would be that it puts out quite a bit of heat and I am going to have to get some fans...

As for the patience...I am actually naturally very impatient. I started this tank planning on it just being a FOWLR. Then I was not satisfied and decided to go for a reef. So I am actually just upgrading...This hobby has really taught me to be patient.

 

[b.branscombe]

Is the fixture mounted to the canopy, or does it sit on the tank with the supplied legs? If you are using the legs, be gentle with them. They are pretty fragile in my experience.

 

[KAKLANGLEY]

I have 130 watts of pcs and a 175 watt MH in my hood which looks very similar to yours and I have no fans. My temp stays 76-78. I run no heater, though I have one in case of emergency. Watch your temp and see all set ups will differ with the air temp surrounding the tank.