# lighting and fixtures



## findingnemo (May 23, 2008)

Ok Im reading on lighting and so far I know that corals need higher Kelvin output then say FO.


I went to a few LFS and like looked at their light bulbs, most of them have the Blue and White flores. light bulbs and then the ones with hard corals have the shorter really high intensity bulbs (MH?) 

So if Im planning to have a FOWRL (but way later on perhaps add softcorals)

What type of lighting should I invest in from the start? Can I mix?

Does anyone know any sites that teach you how to calculate the Watts I need for my tank? (75g) 40x20x18 = LxWxH




Thanks in advanced!


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## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

sry i havent a clue lol
but i think its 4 watts per gallon.
Gl
I have coral life 2x10,000 65 watts and 2x actinic 65 watts.
I think im just under lol


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

On a FWLR you can pretty much use any lighting you want. When I first started out I just wanted a FWLR as well and on my 170G I had 4x40w NO (48") (Normal Output Lighting). The colours in your fish and corals will pop differently with the different lighting. Corals grow slower with the higher end K. Most find a happy median. If you are planning on eventually getting into corals, I'd suggest purchasing the right setup from the start. If you go with a PC (Power Compact) & MH (Metal Halide) combo you can strictly use the PC for now and when you are ready for corals then plug in the MH. Most units will have a dual cord option, one for each set of lights. Another trick that I used and seemed to work for me was to limit the amount of light when cycling. I had a very small outbreak of cyano and hair algae but nothing that didn't cure within a couple of weeks on it's own. I don't have any scientific evidence that if I had of had 600w of lighting vs the 160w I initially used, would I have had a different outbreak? The other thing is coraline grows better not under MH's. What are the dimensions of your tanks?


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## findingnemo (May 23, 2008)

48Lx20Wx18H

I plan on getting somthing like this

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=sl-t5tl4804

But not sure if thats right, and white color bulbs to put in.

Will this also work for Soft corals if i add those in the future?


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## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

wow those bulbs are cheap to replace .
Mine cost me 65 a bulb ,and they are the smaller bulbs .
Maybe i should switch lol


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## quangbui (Apr 12, 2008)

i know im a little late on this
but with these t5s they're a whole different ball park
i have a fixture like this and man it works great
that rule of thumb for how much watt per gallon doesn't work for this
but be sure to get HO lamps or else you'll burn your bulbs out quite quick believe me i've tried lol


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

I missed this puppy too...LOL!

For a FOWLR system, typical shop light from HD is the best way to go as it's not a big investment...IIRC, ~$50 for a 48" 2 light fixture. Don't forget to match the light diameter (T-12/T-8) to the ballast. A 50/50 and actinic bulb will be enough to illuminate while minimizing the chance nuscience algae growth, assuming that you keep the water parameters in check .

If you wish to get the linked lighting system so that you can take the next step, then it will be perfect. I don't recommend having all the lights on at once at any given time or you will soon be looking into a sea of green .

The 4 bulb will grow most corals with the exception of SPS unless they are placed on top of the LR. 

UTS, IMHO, watts is watts, it just depends on how the energy is used. In MHs, most of the energy is heat whereas T-5HO's is in light emission. There are plenty of SPS dominated reefs in Europe that are lit by T5-HOs.

HTH


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