Lighting recommendations needed

[kmckienz]

I need recommendations for the following:

46 gallon bow front reef tank, 31 lbs of live rock, 80 lbs of live sand, currently home to a small rock anemone (he hitch hiked in on the rock) a frog spawn coral (or something like that), a mandarin goby and a few crabs and snails.

In the near future I will be adding 1-2 false perculas, 1 regal tang and a pair of seahorses.

Currently I have a hood "daylight" flourescent. It is extremely bright. Though I have read I need other spectrums of light for a healthy reef.

Here is the big issue for your recommendations.. I am in Florida where I keep my house at around 78-79 degrees. The tank with the light on heats up to 82 by the end of the day now. I would like for it not to get over 80. Recommendations with possible raised fixtures and fans would be good. I prefer something that looks professional and clean as opposed to hooking fans on the side here and there.

Thanks in advance.

Kathy

 

[UnderwaterWorld]

T5 would be the best bet, look into the Nova Extreme Pro, Tek, and Aquactinics, they are all T5 with individual reflectors.

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Sells the NE

Premium Aquatics sells the Aquactinics


They are also listed worse to best, but the NE comes with bulbs and is a great price. I would add more live rock, you want 1-2 lbs per gallon, I would go 1.5 or more. I would also stay away from the seahorses

 

[kmckienz]

I also have some artificial rock which I will replace with about 30 more lbs of live rock in the not too distant future.

I know Seahorses are difficult, but I have a horse farm (the real kind) and I intend to have Seahorses if it kills me (or more likely..them) :shock:

 

[UnderwaterWorld]

I don't know if you can keep them with everything else though, I would do a lot of research first

 

[RyanG]

I also have some artificial rock which I will replace with about 30 more lbs of live rock in the not too distant future.

I know Seahorses are difficult, but I have a horse farm (the real kind) and I intend to have Seahorses if it kills me (or more likely..them) :shock:

Kathy I was actually just researching sea horses last week as I wanted to keep them in the refugium of an upcoming project, they need colder water that a reef system will tolerate, If you are interested in learning more about them PM me for a link to a seahorse forum. Basically they need to have a dedicated seahorse tank.

 

[Bifferwine]

The lights you have will not likely be able to support anything but low light corals. If you want new lights, go with T5s.

I have some suggestions regarding your livestock choices...

I hope your mandarin is eating frozen food. Most will only eat live food and just starve to death in captivity. They do not do well in new tanks and usually need a tank that has been established for at least a year to survive. They are very difficult fish to keep alive, unless you find one that will take frozen food.

Your tank is way too small for a regal tang. I would not put that fish in anything less than 100 gallons. Not only do they need TONS of swimming space, but they are ich magnets and become diseased very easily. Again, one of the more difficult fish to keep alive. Not only will they get sick easily, but they will get every other fish in your tank sick too. If you put a regal tang in a small tank, it will only stress it out and increase its chances of getting ich (which is already almost a certainty).

Seahorses do not do well in community tanks with other fish. They require different water temperatures, different flow levels and different types of feeding. That's why seahorses are almost always kept in their own tanks. They will likely starve to death if you try to put them in with your other fish. Especially clowns and tangs. They are very difficult to keep alive on their own anyways. If you are dead set on keeping seahorses, I suggest setting up a separate tank for them.

Here's a good site to research any animals you think of buying in the future:

Saltwater fish, seahorses, corals, inverts, live rock, reef, marine life — Marine Depot Live

Just saying that because it's my opinion that all the fish you listed (except the clowns) are not compatible with your set up and you'll save a lot of time, money and effort if you research what you want to buy ahead of time.

 

[kimoy]

I agree to the posts above but I want to add that TANGS will easily get sick in a small tank because of what the Biff said, it gets stress easily.

 

[yote]

I agree with em to.
Seahorses need their own tank.They just feed way to slow to be in with other fish.They also need low water flow.Even a HOB filter will blow them around the tank.

 

[kmckienz]

Ok.

So, I got T5s with the Nova Extreme light fixture (2 white and 2 blue lights plus moonlight setting and a fan for my heat issue).

Here is my question. Why is it not as bright in the tank as it was with just my 1 daylight flourescent? Is it that they need better spectrums of light but not more brightness?

Please advise.

P.S. I bought 40 more lbs of live rock too. Don't ask what my bill was last night. Cause I 'might' have got another coral or two while I was at it.

 

[reeffreak]

Brightness doesn't mean anything.It has to with spectrum or better yet PAR(photosynthetic active radiation)which means light that the corals can use for photosynthesis.I could put a street lamp over my tank and it wouldn't help my corals at all.