Wattage per gallon??

rlf_racing

New member
What is the rule of thumb when it comes to wattage per gallon? Im setting up a standard 75 gallon tank. Right now i have a 48" coralife fixture putting out 260 watts. Is that enough or do i need more?

Thanks
Rob

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I have the same set up and it puts out right around 3.5 watts per gallon which I think is about the minimum for softies.
 
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FWIW, W/gal is really not really a good indicator. I guess it can give a general idea, but it comes down more to what kind of coral you want to keep, the spread of light over the aquarium foot print and the depth of water (as well as the type of light-PC, VHO, MH, etc.). Some corals will live with even minimal light, but to thrive, they may need more, etc. Softies have the ability to expand their tissue to increase surface are for light contact area, which makes them a lot more adaptable. Some LPS can do this, as well.
 
What i would like to do is go with just soft corals and an anenome. I know i just mispelled that. Getting an additional light to take care of these creatures isn't an issue. I want to make sure there is plenty for them to grow properly. What i have is a coralife fixture putting out 260 watts. It is a compact fluorescent.

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I've not had much experience with PC's and anemones, but you'll be fine with softies for sure. When I've run PC's, I replace them every 6 months (same as with VHO's). If upgrading isn't an issue if needed, you can start with what you have and see how the anemone reacts. I'd make sure the tank is cycled and ready for animals, first, though. Tank raised anemones can be pretty hardy, but if the parameters are still swinging, etc., anything can be stressed to detriment.

It'll move around until it finds the spot it likes, but should mostly stay put after that. If the anemone doesn't seem to settle down, it may not be getting what it wants (can take weeks sometimes for them to find a spot rhey really like). What I used to use to judge the happiness and general health of an anemone (haven't had any in a while) was touch the oral disc and see how sticky it is. A stickier anemone is a healthier anemone. The mouth should stay fairly tightly pinched. If it gapes open and stays that way, it's either very unhappy or generally unhealthy. When purchasing one, look for the mouth gape. If gaping, don't buy it.

Try to find tank raised specimens if possible (lots of BTA's out there), as they are already used to tank conditions and tend to do much better on a 1:1 basis with wild (generally the case for tank raised anything versus wild caught). It's not highly unusual for the mouth to open up a little for a short period of time, but if it is gaping and staying that way, something is wrong.

Make sure it has good color. Stressed anemones bleach out and IME aren't the easiest to get back to good health. You can feed if they will eat. I used to force clones on BTA's through feeding. Krill were a generally accepted by the healthy anemones. Once they are eating, go sparingly on feeding them (not necessary to feed them if lighting is good). I'd trigger cloning by getting them used to a small amount of food for a week or two, then dramatically increasing the feedings. You can run into issues with having too many anemones in the tank and no one to take soem from you, though. I know I did;). The babies tend to wander a lot more than the parents. Once they settle into a spot, they can wreak havoc on your corals. When my anemones would wander, they might sting a few things, but only a little. Once they settled into a spot and started protecting their territory, they could get pretty aggressive towards corals in their area, though.

They can also split due to enviromental upsets. I had a RO filter issue at one point years ago. Went from two mothers to two mothers and eight babies. Most of my coral were dying because of the bad water, but the anemones practiced survival by splitting. The mothers had been well established and healthy prior to the RO issue. I may have lost them, had the mothers not been as established as they were.

Maybe a little more info than you were looking for, but I was just spouting off most of this to a local guy that is setting up a tank for his son that has an anemone he bought from someone selling out, so it's still fresh in my cess pool of a brain;).
 
most anemones will not do well under CF lighting. Maybe you could swing a condy without issues.

how do you feel about lower end halides? like 150W. i was a fluorescent user (various kinds) for years...made the switch to halides and oh man. so much better for me. I wouldn't even consider going back. You could get some nice used lamps for pretty cheap... 2x 150w MH and some actinics (maybe you could do NO for these if you didn't want to go VHO). you wouldnt need to change the halides once a year and i wouldnt bother changing the actnics unless they actually burn out. 150's dont cause most of the heat issues associated with brighter bulbs but really will make a huge difference in your tank.
 
I ended up getting a 150 mh light with a 72 gallon bow front tank last weekend. Unfortunately the mh only lights up half the tank. I either need to get a small led setup for the other.half.or another 150 mh light. Im glad i have the one mh light now.

Thank you for everyone's input. My question is now is about the mainland 18" led light. Is good for the other half or the tank?

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