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[radrngr]

I have a 68 gallon reef tank starting up and I am not sure what lighting to get. the tank is 36"x24"x18". I have an opportunity to get a setup with 2x150 watt halides and I just wanted to know if that would be enough light to be able to have such things as blue clams, elephant skin, and other high light corals. sorry if the terminology and spelling is not right I am new and just know what they are called by what the stores write on the tanks. thanks for the help

 

[funman1]

First
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

That sould be plenty of light for high intensisty animals.
You may want to add some atinics (I know that's spelled wrong)
and a few VHO's or some thing so you can have your lower intensity lights come on a few hours before your big ones do and then have them turn off a few hours after your big ones do..
This will create a dawn dusk effect for your tank.


~Steve~

 

[Pico1]

Steve is right about adding actinics but I would go with 250s. That way you can keep whatever you want anywhere in the tank and you can have 20K if you ever want that bluer look without having to worry about par. I have 2x150W on my 55 and wish I would have gone with 250s. 150s will be sufficent but you will have sps and clams surviving but not thriving or growing fast. If you can go with 250s, if not the 150s will be fine. Welcome to MARS and hopefully we'll see you at the meetings.

 

[Justin74]

Welcome!

Am I reading it correctly as 18" high? If so that lighting sounds sufficient, at 24" depth like funman suggested I would recommend actinic supplementation lighting as well. VHO, or T5 are both great options. Id steer clear of PC if in fact it's 24 inches deep as youll be looking for more penetration than PC's will be able to offer.

If infact your goal is to have high light creatures then please invest as much time looking into flow. People often forget that these high light creatures are in some heavy currents as well, both need to go hand in hand for optimal results.

Stick around, this club has some of the coolest reef geeks in Sac with years of collective experience; you've come to the right place

-Justin

 

[shilo_1]

The footprint is the same as my 65g AGA. I just got a T-5 setup with 4x39w bulbs and am happy with it so far.
My reason for T5's was much less heat produced, and much lower electric bill.

On a tank this size, if you wanted MH, I would go for at least 175w or 250w. I had 2x 175w on my 46g. Just remember that MG are expensive to run and also produce LOTS of heat, which could mean you may need a chiller down the line too.

I wouldn't consider PC's, since (as Justin said) light penetration wouldn't be sufficient.

Welcome to RC !!!