Watts per gallon

[hugecoltsfan]

I posted something similar to this in reef discussion too, but you guys here explain things better. As of right now I have a 65 gallon tank 36" long 24" tall and 18" deep. I have a 4 bulb fixture T5's. Two bulbs are acentic and two are 12000 at 39 watts a piece I bought this fixture for around $100. How many whats per gallon do I need if I am using Tampa Bay Live Rock? I can get another fixture if I need to that would give me 4.8 watts per gallon, right now it would be 2.4. Please help me

 

[noahm]

I would think you would be fine with a 4 bulb t-5. Most of this stuff is often in pretty murky water for extended periods. I think you would be able to grow everything on the TBS rock plus probably most other corals depending on where you put them. I wouldn't try a tridacnid clam on the bottom or anything like that since the tank is 24" tall. A lot of the stuff that you buy these days is acclimated to high wattage MH, so don't be afraid to place purchased zoanthids or other stuff a bit higher than you might think. I usually shade the area with a piece of window screen for a few days just as a precaution, but I am running 250w MH. Just keep your bulbs up to date.

 

[Yogre]

What noahm said.

When I first set up my TBS tank, Richard told me what noahm just said... the aquaculture site has pretty turbid water most of the time. As a consequence he suggested very gradual acclimation to my lighting ( I have a fixture that runs 8x39 watt actinics, and 3x250 watt MH bulbs). Richard said that the TBS stuff will acclimate and the photosynthetic stuff in particular would be happy.

So, I think your 4x39 watt fixture would be a great place to start. If down the road you start keeping some of the more demanding SPS you might want to upgrade later on...

P.S. as I understand it (keep in mind I've only been at this a year myself) the PAR value (photosynthetically active radiation) at a coral's surface is the real measure of a light's effectiveness. Lots of things beyond wattage affect PAR. Without a PAR meter, your best bet is a Mark 1 eyeball...If your stuff looks happy it is happy.

 

[NeonFish]

Seems to me that watts/gal ratio is dependent on the type of light you are using. Not sure how you would figure my LED lights. I have 2 modules equivalent to 2 MH 250w (actinic included) at 1/3 energy cost and I change bulbs every 10 years.

Your lighting is probably sufficient for now.