New Lights? Light Cycles?

[phastroh]

Ok I do know thanks to all the help here that you need a lot of watts for corals.

I am pushing 216 but I have an 80gallon tank so I need more like 320 watts.

It seems like almost all the lights you see out there are only 4 bulbs(T5) and they advertise them like they will work for your tank. Obviously if you don't do your research you would come to that conclusion.

I do not know what bulbs are in my Aquaticlife 48" 4 bulb and 4 moonlight unit but I do know 2 are blue and 2 are white.

I have some important questions.

1) What kind of bulbs could I slap in there that are proven better than others?

2) It is only pushing the total watts if all 4 bulbs are on so how can the corals benefit if only the blues are on then the whites anyway.

3) Is there a specific light cycle between the colors that is best in general.

4) Are the moon light to run all night?

5) If not how long of a dark period should the tank have?

6) Will the fish be happier with music :) Just kidding

I may or may not know the right answer to these questions but what do you all have to say about it?

Thanks

 

[Bifferwine]

I don't think 4 bulbs is enough for an 80 gallon tank. You should be looking for at least 6 bulbs, even 8.

Look up the Current Nova Extreme Pro 48" lights. Those would be perfect for your tank, and it's what I use over my 90. It has 6 bulbs with individual reflectors. Before I had that over my 90, I tried using an old 4-bulb fixture I had, and I was barely able to keep even the lowest light corals. It was just not strong enough.

 

[phastroh]

Yeah I know. Actually you have drilled that into my head many times. You just may not remember because you are all over the site helping people.

I listen to your comments for sure.

I just was looking for the answers or opinions on the list of questions. I like to get many opinions on this stuff if I can.

I also have a canopy and don't think I can fit the 8 lights and I am thinking the 6 may be hard to fit if it even will.

 

[slm32123]

I went to fishneedit.com and got 2 of the 4 bulb 48" fixtures, total of 432 watts over my 75, so far lighting is good for all my corals. but of course i do not have any sps yet, but was told by many people here i would be able to keep sps in there even a clam. But here is my build thread, you can check out the lights in a couple of the pics, I would recommend upgrading the bulbs though to something a little more mainstream.
https://www.livingreefs.com/official-build-thread-slm32123-steve-t29798.html

 

[Bifferwine]

Ahhh! Sorry. :(

Okay, then.

There are tons of different types of T5 bulbs. Reefgeek.com is a great place to order them from, and you can even all their customer service, and they can recommend a custom combination to give your tank the look you want. I use mostly ATI bulbs.

For the majority of the day, both the blues and whites are on together. If you decide to stagger them, then the blues should turn on before the whites and turn off after the whites. You should run the lights for 8 to 12 hours a day.

Moon lights will usually run 24/7, or only at night. That's because they are built in LEDs and they don't make a difference in the day time, since they don't put out a lot of light.

I think fish like classical music, or blues. ;)

 

[fastrd400]

I have delt with Aquaticlife, they are super cool people. Call James in customer service. Ask him if they have any sort of trade in program for upgrading, or if you can work a deal to buy directly from them. They have quite a few fixtures including positionable MH/T5 combos. Make sure you tell him that Wade from Calif. sent you over to him. He took care of my light for my nano at no charge when it was out of warrenty.

 

[phastroh]

They should have lights that work like a powerhead that you can stick to the side and are a bit cheaper.

I have a few ballast that could add to my wattage but there is no room to use them. I mean even if someone gave me a 2 bulb system I can't fit it with the 4 bulber I have there now.

Maybe they have them but wouldn't it nice nice to stick some lower wattage bulbs underwater so that even the sides of your clam gets really colorful and so that you don't have to use MH bulbs blasting heat on your water.

I don't really know how the cooling and technical stuff would go but most tubes are never even hot to the touch. Even some stick on LED systems that are cone shaped to spread the light. They would be out of the way and help big time for lighting deep in the tank.

Man they should start making tanks with the sides full of LEDs haha this way you can access them from the top for service. I mean you would have no side view but some people may like it, especially in wall units.

NOTE: I just found the suction lights but only in low watt colors for accenting.

 

[phastroh]

What about putting the VHO Bulbs in my system. I mean I guess I can't since I don't have the right ballast in my unit.

 

[Bifferwine]

That's right, you can only use the same bulbs it was made for.

 

[phastroh]

I don't know where your screen name came from but it always reminds me of a word I use sometimes to call people.

I call them Biffchops or Bifftip.

Don't ask me where the word came from. It just came out one day when I was talking. HAHA

 

[fastrd400]

They should have lights that work like a powerhead that you can stick to the side and are a bit cheaper.

I have a few ballast that could add to my wattage but there is no room to use them. I mean even if someone gave me a 2 bulb system I can't fit it with the 4 bulber I have there now.

Maybe they have them but wouldn't it nice nice to stick some lower wattage bulbs underwater so that even the sides of your clam gets really colorful and so that you don't have to use MH bulbs blasting heat on your water.

I don't really know how the cooling and technical stuff would go but most tubes are never even hot to the touch. Even some stick on LED systems that are cone shaped to spread the light. They would be out of the way and help big time for lighting deep in the tank.

Man they should start making tanks with the sides full of LEDs haha this way you can access them from the top for service. I mean you would have no side view but some people may like it, especially in wall units.

NOTE: I just found the suction lights but only in low watt colors for accenting.

They actually do make lights for use under water. I've seen a ton of them mounted under the swim platforms on Wakeboard boats, and they are super bright. Not sure how well they'd compare par wise to aquarium lighting though.