Nobody has more questions

[nobody]

About lighting.

For daytime lighting I have 2 actinac white tubes and 3 actinic ho blue tubes. Is this enough for a reef style tank?

I have read about night time lighting and moon lights. Whay should I be looking for and are they needed? Or is it better to be totally dark?

What temp should my tank be for a reef tank with some fish?

 

[SarahSmile]

What wattage are your bulbs? What coral are you looking to keep? You do not need lights on at night. You tank should be kept at a steady temp, I keep mine 78-79.

 

[little_fish]

The night time lights are for your viewing pleasure, the tank doesnt actually need them.

 

[Bifferwine]

Sarah is right -- we need more info on what type of bulbs you are using. Are they T5?

No light is needed at night, but moonlights do make the tank look cooler to the people watching it. :)

 

[nobody]

Understand that night time is not needed and that is just for mood lighting or for our pleasure. I was just wondering what would work and what people are using.

My hood/canopy is 6ft. long. I have:

2 Super Actinic FR591T12 VHO
1 Super Actinic FR72 T12 VHO
2 FR 72T12 VHO white

I also have available if I want or need to put it in a FR59T12 VHO Aquasun.

These are hooked to ballasts with heat sinks.

Could one of you knowlegable people tell me what this light combo is and if it is strong enough for a reef tank. Not sure about all this yet.

 

[fastrd400]

Judging by your signature, I'd say no, they are not strong enough for a 125 reef tank. You really need to look into something along the lines of an 8 bulb T5 fixture, or Metal Halide, or a combo of both.

 

[little_fish]

For moon lights, most people just use a couple of LEDs. Some fixtures have the moon lights built in, but there are some moon light fixtures you can buy and they attach to the main lights.

 

[nobody]

fastrd400.

At the moment I have 4 bulbs with the ability to add one more. Room under the hood is limited. Do I need to add and wire in T5 bulbs? How will an 8 bulb setup fit in an 18" or less hood/canopy?

What choices are out there? I really want to keep it all under the current canopy and am not sure if I want to go with hanging MH lights.

 

[Kelz88]

the only thing i could fit under my canopy was 2 t5 bulbs enough to grow things at the very top, but thats it., odds are your gonna need a new one if you upgrade your lights.

t12s are old tech perhaps you can replace the t12 with some t5 retrofits

 

[d2mini]

You can buy a T5 retrofit kit like this and install it under your hood.
I had six 36" T5's under the hood of my 48g bow front tank and it was a crapload of light.
http://www.aquacave.com/48-TEK-2-T5-Retro-Kit-2-x-54W-lamps-by-Sunlight-Supply-P647.aspx

But I do prefer MH as the main light, supplementing with blue T5's. Just mho.

 

[fastrd400]

Yup, exactly what he ^^^^^^^^^ said.