Lighting for fish and softies

[105man]

I have a 54 gallon corner (fairly deep) tank. It's been going for about a year, and generally successful with mushrooms, polyps and leathers. It has two regular 20w 50/50 flourescents. The fixture sits directly atop the glass tank cover.

Is there a simple upgrade in lighting that I could make, without getting into fans, chillers, elevating the light fixture, etc.?

I gather that the best possibility might be VHO, but I don't know how many bulbs, wattage, etc. From what I understand, VHO runs cooler than PCs and T-5. Also, I had read somewhere that there is something call HO, though maybe that's been obsoleted.

I would appreciate your thoughts. As I said, the corals have done OK, not great, with what I have. But I don't want to get into multiple levels of complexity or cost. I would be happy if there's something simple that would be a moderate upgrade.

Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Metal halide is the way to go. Especially for a deep tank. One 250 watt(HQI DE) would work best. Unfortunately you will need to raise the light to avoid overheating. If it is mounted about 12" above the tank it will not increase the temp anymore than VHOs at the same wattage.

 

[Unarce]

I second Anemonebuff's metal halide suggestion. More often than not, reefers regret not just spending the extra money in the first place.

I understand that buying metal halides may be out of the question. Of all your fluorescent options, I would say T-5's are the best. Many are able to successfully raise SPS coral and clams under T-5's. The thin diameter of the bulbs allow high quality reflectors to maximize output. It's efficient and runs cool enough where you can avoid fans or chillers. This will suffice in keeping softies at mid-low level, and more light demanding inverts at the top level.

 

[Anonymous]

Ask yourself if you're going to get into more and more corals when you get the new lights. I've got pc's because I only have small tanks. Once I upgrade, I'm going with MH. No doubt about it.

If you seriously only are going to want to keep shrooms and other softies, go for t5's. if you are going to try lps/sps, get the halide.

You'll eventially end up with one anyhow!

If you have carpentry skills, you could easily build a small hood for a retro 250watt. Under $250.

HTH
B

 

[105man]

Thanks! I have no intention of going into more challenging corals or inverts.

 

[mark78]

I would get a single 175w, 20000K MH pendant for this tank possibly. Try and find a tank with just this light over it and see how you like the look. A 250w may be ok but if you truley only want to keep mushrooms and zoos it may be a bit overkill

Not to bright for the mushrooms but probably bright enough for a clam or sps near the surface of the tank.

If all they have had is 40w of light for the last year then I would also put a cloth between the light and the water or make the MH very high above the tank slowly lowering it over 2 weeks. 40w of NO to MH of any wattage is a big jump, but well worth it IMO.

I'd even put MH's over my FO tanks if I could afford it, the effect they put on the water alone is amazing. For a reef I don't think theres another options thats more efficient for producing reef lighting them MH.

 

[rayjay]

I seem to always be defending my lighting choice but I wouldn't change unless I became rich. Money is hard to come by for me so I buy tar ballasts from the recyle shops for $5 each. They power my 40 watt NO fluorescent lamps of which I fill the top of the tank with.
My 90 g reef has 8 NO's, My 65 g has 8 lamps, my 55 has 6 lamps, again, all 40 watt lamps.
My lamps are GE Daylight Ultra's which are 6500K and a lumen output of 3050, the highest of ANY 40 watt 6500K. I also use Philips actinic 03's to give a more pleasing to the eye appearance. These Philips are expensive but I buy them at the hydroponic store for $16.
Even though I have a lot of lamps, this system is very cheap compared to any system I've found around here.
The lamps last at least a year and I probably push them 14 months.
I keep softies, LPS, clams, and one sps coral up close to the lights, a hydnaphora.
A lot of my pictures are on my web site if you wish to see what is possible with NO's.
I have never used any lighting other than NO's now for my just over ten years in the hobby.

 

[mark78]

My 90 g reef has 8 NO's, My 65 g has 8 lamps, my 55 has 6 lamps, again, all 40 watt lamps.
My lamps are GE Daylight Ultra's which are 6500K and a lumen output of 3050, the highest of ANY 40 watt 6500K. I also use Philips actinic 03's to give a more pleasing to the eye appearance. These Philips are expensive but I buy them at the hydroponic store for $16.

$5*8 (ballasts)+ $16*8(bulbs) = $168. You can buy a MH tar ballast for $70 if you look hard, and a bulb for $30 if you are ok with 5500 lamps. Just a FYI a lot of people don't realize how cheaply you can build a MH light. Its the "hobby bulbs" for $120 that kill people on MH prices. (lighting supply / online prices)

Only mention it because you sound like you know what your doing with wiring etc and could handle it, may be worth trying on your next tank if your into DIY experimentation.

 

[rayjay]

First of all, a ballast lights two 40 watt lamps so that's a total of $20
I run at most, 4 philips at $16 and the remaining are the GE lamps at under $5 (forgot to mention that in the previous post) each for a total lamp price of $84 and overall, $104. I can decrease total cost by going only with 8 6500K Daylights and save another $44 (for a grand total of $60) and still have better kelvin than the 5500 metal halide. For me to use that 5500, I still need to use actinics for a pleasing appearance.
Here in London Ontario Canada, there is no way I can even come close to those prices for metal halide.
The cheapest I've been able to find around here totals a minimum of $225.
Again, I would still need actinics to make the tanks pleasing to my eyes.
Last point, I've been told that if I bring another tank home, to find another home period.
I guess 7 systems for salt, 2 brackish, 2 fresh, and now an expanding Brine shimp raising operation totalling at the moment 55g but going hopefully to about 150g, is just too much for someone who has no interest in any part of it.