hugs28

Hey all, I was just reading a thread about wattage and I have a question. I just looked at the lighting I have and both the white and the blue bulbs both say 65 watt. I have a 54 gallon corner tank. Is this enough? if not how do I know how much wattage I can put on this light hood? how much wattage should I have? thanks

Chitown1

Thats a trick question IMO, watts are not the true answer to lighting needs. Spectrum and intensity are equal to if not more important than just watts per gallon. Lighting is a trick topic as there are MANY opinions on the subject. My personal outlook is this, it the tank is under 18" T5 will work for many corals, but not the light needy ones, PC will work for things like Zoa's, polyps, shrooms and some other softies and some clams.

For over 18" deep Metal Halide and LED are the way to go, they are able to broadcast there light in a more intense form and the spectrum will penetrate to the bottom of the tank.

If you look at a 48" PC fixture that is 260 watts (4 x 65) the light is spread out in a 4' by about 2' area, a 150 watt MH will condense its light into a area about 2' x 2' area but penetrates deeper because it covers less surface area and 2 would be required to cover the 4' tank. Even though they are close in wattage the MH will allow more light to penetrate deeper into the tank giving you more room to keep pieces so they all do not need to be near the top.

You can have some nice corals without MH or T5 lighting regardless, they may just more dictate placement in the tank and will limit your selection of acceptable corals. I have a post in the forum called "reef experiment" it has a samll 26 gallon tank with a 110 watt PC fixture, some corals worked some did not, check it out, it may help with your selections.

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hugs28

ok well this is the lighting, and I just bought new bulbs tonight and replaced them, the guy I got the tank from told me to replace them once a year, while at the petstore they told me at least every 6 months? which is it lol, anyway, I replaced them and could not believe the difference.

Now the bulbs are 55/65 watt 10,000k each, there is the white and the blue.

I have pulsing xenia, toadstool, anemone, star polyps, clown fish, cardinals, damsels, a goby and a neon something or other, and I just added a red crab, a blood shrimp and a banded shrimp and a blue hippo tang. What do you think?

chadf

So these must be PC lights...I'm no reef expert so can't help you there. But, I plan on replacing bulbs in my PC in the middle of the two (8 months). You won't be able to visually see when they need changed, but you'll def. notice when you do it.

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My 90 gallon reef

Striped bristletooth tang, Coral beauty angelfish, Royal gramma, 2 Occelleris clownfish, Lyretail anthias, Tongue coral, Green frogspawn, Palythoa colony, Orange and green ricordeas, Green striped mushrooms, Crocea clam, About 40 snails of 11 different species, Sand sifting starfish, Emerald crab, 130 lbs live rock, 240 lbs live sand

Chitown1

That is quite a bio load for that tank, one thing to remember is the gereral rule of thumb for stocking a rectangle tank is 1" of fish per 5 gallons of water, that number is reduced for corner, octogon and corner tanks because they have less surface area for gas exchange than a rectangle tank does.
You lighting should be fine for the corals you mentioned as long as they are given enough of a photo period, at least 10-12 hours per day and I change PC bulbs every 6 months, they will loose their intensity starting around that point and as you mentioned you can see the difference with new bulbs, but you wont see them loose there intensity as it is gradual, so 6 months is a realistic time frame IMO.

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hugs28

"That is quite a bio load for that tank" what do you mean by that? I have too much? I was told I was ok?

thanks for the info on the lights, boy oh boy was there a difference lol

Chitown1

IMO, yes, your tank is over stocked, but thats not to say with additonal water changes and testing it cant be kept up without issues, at least until you have a power outage. Thats when over stocking really becomes a factor, not while you system is up and running. When you loose power for any amount of time, a over stocked tank may have a overload of waste, lack of oxygen etc. that could cause a crash that may devistate the entire system.
The Tang is IMO to much for that tank, they really need at least 4' long tanks to give them enough room to swim. Tang's are much more active than many other species.

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Nereaga

Stocking varies from tank to tank. It all depends on what your water parameters are, they tell you what your tank can handle. When you loose power for an extended period of time, your tank may crash if overstocked. Filtration is soley on the tank when you lose power.

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75g Mixed Reef w/ Fish

Chitown1

One other factor is a corner, or cylinder and octogon tank for that matter have less surface area for gas exchange than a traditional rectangle tank which also needs to be a factor in stocking of the tank.

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hugs28

I have a corner tank. I am looking for a cheap 75 gallon at least set up My tang is right now only about inch and half, he is tiny. I know he will grow though.

What do you do if you have a power outage? I don't have a generator yet.

Here is my tank