I am getting a saltwater aquarium and want to know what lighting sources I could use. I would like to have a reef aquarium. All the books that I have bought are not very good explained.
Thanxs
I am getting a saltwater aquarium and want to know what lighting sources I could use. I would like to have a reef aquarium. All the books that I have bought are not very good explained.
Thanxs
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
Books in the market are notoriously behind. Best bet is to do internet research since the technological side of the hobby has exploded in the last few years.
I am running T5 lighting and really like it. With a 55g, you should get a 4 bulb, 54W each bulb setup. This gives you 216W of light, plenty for keeping a variety of corals including SPS (small polyp stonies).
Metal halides are great, but the bulbs are expensive (up to $100 or more) and last only 9-12 months, but you do get a great shimmer in the water. They also produce a lot of heat.
Power Compacts are decent to, but I feel the T5′s are a much better option over PC’s.
Take your time and do your homework. Nothing worse than shelling out $300 for a sub-par piece of equipment only to find a better and cheaper unit the next week.
I always suggest joining a local reef club as a great place to learn and find fellow hobbyists. Also a great way to get free corals
Join a few different forums and read, read, read and ask a lot of questions. I enjoy http://www.talkingreef.com and you can find other great info at larger sites like http://www.reefcentral.com and Bob Fenner’s http://www.wetwebmedia.com
what type of reef did you want?
softies?
LPS?
SPS?
if you’re just starting out
keep reef safe fish in a FO or FOWLR system and slowly work your way up to reef tanks
like stated it is best to start off with fowlr before reef,
corals after 8 months.
I would go with MH but that is the best, most expensive, and it will produce alot of heat so you will need to buy a heater.
The most common lighting for corals would be power compacts, 10K and .03mm blue actinics, This is very basic and you wont ness need to buy a chiller,
But pc you cant produce enough lighting for sps, i currently have some lps under PC and they are doing just fine.
There is a lot of debate about "lighting" and it all boils down to what you are planning on housing. Since a reef tank takes a good while to actually be complete starting your tank with the basics is fine.
http://www.aquariumguys.com/diy-aquarium-lighting.html
This is a great article where you can figure out what would be best for your type of tank, what you plan on doing with your tank and options.
Don’t forget the new lighting is now the LED’s vs. the Halides (less expensive, better job and do not run hot or cause fires) I’ve switched my two large reefs to the LEDs and I love them. they are less expensive, last longer use less electric and there are no worries for overheating the tank or causing a fire when I am not home.
It is always best to go SLOW when starting a salt water tank. Use the lights that come with the tank and start keeping some fish. As you go you can start adding some LIve Rock to the tank. When you get near the amount of rock you will need, start saving for lights. There is a lot of mis-information in this thread about lighting. Go to http://www.reefcentral and start doing some homework. Power compacts in aquariums are almost not even being made any more. Metal Halide, and T-5 lighting are the main players now. LEDs could become it, but right not the only LED lights out there are Garbage, especially for the price. Over a $1,000 for small setup.