Lighting? Yikes!

[dreamwalk]

Hey guys, I'm looking into the items that I would need to set up a reef with fish tank. I was originally going with a 55 gal, but I may be going with a 75 after some wise advice from the guys in chat.

My question to you all is: If I purchase one each of the strips from the below link, in the color combonations as described, would I beable to keep fish and corals. What types of corals if they *will* support coral life.

Blue/Magenta, White/Magenta , White/ Blue

Read more: Stunner LED Strips ? 24watt, 48in.

If these would *not* support coral life, could someone point me in the right direction to learn the lighting requirments for a tank of 55-75 gallons?

Thanks again for your input!​

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[ErinCahir]

:ahem: and girl. You forgot about the girl in chat.

 

[Ulta]

Lol!!

And those would only be ok for corals in a very small tank. Mostly tho those lights are only for aesthetic purposes.

I would reccomend 2x 250w Metal Halide's
or 6x T5 Bulbs (with individual reflectors and ATI bulbs of course ;D)
If your considering a reef.

 

[marcah]

I would go 6 bulb t5 also..
here are a couple better ones
Aquarium Lighting for Reef Systems: Current Nova Extreme Pro T-5 Fixtures

Aquarium Lighting T5 Fluorescent Light Fixture: AquaticLife Six Lamp T5 HO Light Fixture

Catalina Aquarium

 

[Old_Moe]

I have the AquaticLife 6 Lamp linked above, works great for my 75g. One plug, one timer, 3 different lighting tasks.

 

[NanoReefer]

if you want leds, check out Finsanity Aquarium Store they make diy leds and me and a few other people on the forum use them. with the leds you will be able to have anything you want in your tank.

 

[phastroh]

Just use a flashlight it works the best in my opinion... well a match is a little better..

Haha just playing.

Yeah a 6 Bulb T5 unit like the Aquaticlife or a Nova Extreme Pro system is perfecto for your tank.

 

[Sir Alex]

if you want leds, check out Finsanity Aquarium Store they make diy leds and me and a few other people on the forum use them. with the leds you will be able to have anything you want in your tank.

+1 to that. I have that fixture and my new corals (a few weeks old?) have gained some color and maybe grown a bit?


Anyway, I wrote a full review on the fixture on my local forum: Fin-Sanity LEDs review. - SMMAS

 

[dreamwalk]

Thanks for all of the advice, I'll check more into the t5 fixtures, but the LEDs look really cool.

Anyone with those Fin-Sanity LEDs mind suggesting what would be best for a 55 gallon and a 75 gallon? Still not sure how you decide how many watts you need to have per gallon.

 

[Sir Alex]

All I know is that the 66 LED system is 46" long by 8" wide. It's plenty for a 75 and if it's too much for a 55 you can always turn it down. You can email him and ask him the dimensions on the 40 LED system.

 

[Nonfamous]

I have that exact unit. It was my ONLY light when I started out just a few short months ago. I added 2 12" stunner strips, one blue and one magenta, a short time later. At the time I had a FOWLR tank and it was fine. Several people commented just how surprised they were with the amount and quality of light coming from that little strip!

Not long ago I decided to start keeping corals. The first thing I bought was a 2 bulb t5 unit. I'm not good with numbers so don't ask about its parameters! Combined with the LED strip, my corals, to this point, seem to be doing just fine. I am planning on adding another t5 to the tank shortly when $$ comes available for it. Only because I want to keep more difficult corals.

So to answer your question, no, not a good light for corals when used alone. Can be fine for a FOWLR tank though. You DO NOT NEED MH lights. Not to mention cost, they are over kill for anything but the larger tanks or expert corals. Yes, I've done my homework on this stuff and it is fresh in my mind RIGHT NOW. The up front cost of the LED lights turns a lot of people away, but you will see a return on your investment in longevity and lower power consumption. From what I have read, I would need 4 of those 48" strips to equal my single and duel 2 bulb t5 units.