too much light?
- Thread starter macboat
- Start date
Watts per gallon is pretty useless. The key is your tank depth and what you want to keep.
The reason is light intensity from a point source follows an inverse square law. Double the distance and the intensity drops to 1/4. Halides are close to a point source. T5's are not so the falloff there doesn't follow the same law. Reflectors factor hugely in this and will distort the law a bit but it's still a good rule of thumb.
So for a 18" deep tank 175w or 250W. 2 halides is appropriate for a 4ft long tank. 175W does not have a wide selection of good bulbs. The Iwasaki 15K is the best choice by far. Use your PCs for actinic supplementation and dawn to dusk. Maybe only run 2 of the 4. Depends on the coloring you prefer.
Can you have too much light? At some point corals will hit photoinhibition and essentially shut down. Further stresses can lead to bleaching. However look at many of the really nice tanks with great colors and none skimped on the lighting. If acclimated to brighter lighting over a period of weeks almost all corals will adapt. Tons of flow help corals resist other stresses. Not direct flow or velocity but think of it as mass movement across the coral.
The tap water almost assuredly kicked start your bloom. It can die out in 3-4 weeks or continue. I would start using a GFO (granular ferric oxide) phosphate sponge in a reactor to bring your nutrients down.
At this point you can live with frequent WC but if you want a reef then a quality(didn't say $$) skimmer is invaluable. If you keep your bioload low until you have the $4 for the skimmers Jay recommended you'll be ok.
The reason is light intensity from a point source follows an inverse square law. Double the distance and the intensity drops to 1/4. Halides are close to a point source. T5's are not so the falloff there doesn't follow the same law. Reflectors factor hugely in this and will distort the law a bit but it's still a good rule of thumb.
So for a 18" deep tank 175w or 250W. 2 halides is appropriate for a 4ft long tank. 175W does not have a wide selection of good bulbs. The Iwasaki 15K is the best choice by far. Use your PCs for actinic supplementation and dawn to dusk. Maybe only run 2 of the 4. Depends on the coloring you prefer.
Can you have too much light? At some point corals will hit photoinhibition and essentially shut down. Further stresses can lead to bleaching. However look at many of the really nice tanks with great colors and none skimped on the lighting. If acclimated to brighter lighting over a period of weeks almost all corals will adapt. Tons of flow help corals resist other stresses. Not direct flow or velocity but think of it as mass movement across the coral.
The tap water almost assuredly kicked start your bloom. It can die out in 3-4 weeks or continue. I would start using a GFO (granular ferric oxide) phosphate sponge in a reactor to bring your nutrients down.
At this point you can live with frequent WC but if you want a reef then a quality(didn't say $$) skimmer is invaluable. If you keep your bioload low until you have the $4 for the skimmers Jay recommended you'll be ok.
Where can I get a $4 skimmer?
I agree with everyone but the one thing that I would change is to a large (50%+) water change a few times using RO/DI. 55 gallon is not a lot so the cost is not too prohibitive.
I think changing to 14K bulbs and not using actinics would be a great idea. Reduce electricity consumption.
Like everyone said, get a skimmer. It is invaluable. I have only one fish in my 40 breeder and I have a skimmer. I had cyano but it is slowly receding and I am fighting the infamous diatom algae. It is not too bad though.
I agree with everyone but the one thing that I would change is to a large (50%+) water change a few times using RO/DI. 55 gallon is not a lot so the cost is not too prohibitive.
I think changing to 14K bulbs and not using actinics would be a great idea. Reduce electricity consumption.
Like everyone said, get a skimmer. It is invaluable. I have only one fish in my 40 breeder and I have a skimmer. I had cyano but it is slowly receding and I am fighting the infamous diatom algae. It is not too bad though.
Fenderguy13
In Memoriam
i think the 2x250 might be a bit much... some guy was selling 2x150 on craigslist for pretty good price. I have a single 250 pendant if you want to try it
It really depends on what he wants to keep down low. The 150's in my frag tank only kept stony corals well colored about 10" down. Clams at the bottom of a 18" tank might not be happy. Zoos and softies would be fine. If he does want to do SPS in the future 250's aren't too much for corals at the top. I mean the top is the top in any tank. Number of gallons makes no difference.
Of course he could just go T5 but since he already has the fixture.
Of course he could just go T5 but since he already has the fixture.
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