75G lighting for FOWLR

[JDigital]

What type and how much lighting can I get away with on a 75G (48") FOWLR tank? I will switch down the road to a mixed reef, but until i can afford the MH's I want I am gonna run the tank as FOWLR.

Right now all i got is a 36" T5HO with 1-18K and 1-Actinic. How much more should I add?

[spreerider]

i dont think you need any with FOWLR

[hecks220]

i'm thinking of bringing over my 36" pc fixture when i upgrade to a 75 fowlr in the near future as well. i believe the light is sufficient for this style of tank. the only life forms that use it are coraline algae and the plants, right?

[fishytime]

Hey Josh. I dont think you have to do a fish only tank. I started my reef with the exact light you have...just the 24" model. Peeps here said it was a crappy light and I should upgrade it but have a look for yourself. The first few months I ran the tank with 1 fixture only. http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=31856&highlight=fishytimes+20g

[JDigital]

Hey Josh. I dont think you have to do a fish only tank. I started my reef with the exact light you have...just the 24" model. Peeps here said it was a crappy light and I should upgrade it but have a look for yourself. The first few months I ran the tank with 1 fixture only. http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=31856&highlight=fishytimes+20g

Yea, but you had 96Watts on a 20G.. I have 78 on a 75G.. Slight difference in amount of light per gallon.. lol

[fishytime]

Like I said I ran the tank with only 48w ( 1 fixture) for a few months. You could probably do stuff like zoas and mushrooms if you placed them up higher in the tank. Just dont glue them in, so that when you upgrade your lighting you can move them down.

[JDigital]

Yea I will definitely think about it... I need to get that microbubble problem figured out first.. haha. It really bothers me..

[mike31154]

I've been running a previously owned 75 gal for 1.5 years with similar lighting, a "GLO" 36 inch dual T5HO with one actinic and one 10,000K. The fixture is 2 inches above the water surface. A few months after setting up, a mushroom started growing.... my FOWLR turning into a mixed reef all on its own. Unfortunately, it was subsequently consumed. I think one of my pencil urchins was the culprit. Late last year a single zoanthid polyp began growing on a piece of LR near the middle of the tank. It has since grown into a colony of more than a dozen polyps. I keep the colony fairly high in the tank and provide supplemental feedings of mysis etc. Another piece of LR spontaneously sprouted some Spindle Weed (Neomeris sp.) as well as Grape Caulerpa. Yet another piece of LR saw a form of red macro algae take hold, Halymenia if I'm not mistaken.
I've also been successful in keeping a BTA hosting two Maroon Clowns under this set up. The anemone did real well until a few months ago when it decided to wander down and behind the rock work where I was unable to feed it properly or keep an eye on it. I let it be for some time, hoping it would move back under the light on its own. It did not and I became concerned since the tentacles were starting to bleach from lack of light. So I bit the bullet and rather than try to pry the BTA loose, I did a major LR renovation to get it back under the lights. The thing was half coloured and half bleached by this time. So far so good, the BTA has stayed put and made a fine recovery, good colour and starting to grow again. Not sure why it moved down in the first place, but I think it's safe to say that the current lighting is sufficient. All this to say/illustrate that you should be fine with respect to lighting on your 75 gal FOWLR.
I do plan to upgrade my current lighting in anticipation of setting up a 90 gallon tank. I've dismantled a used MH/VHO lighting fixture to cannibalize for parts and plan to use the two Workhorse 8 ballasts to run four 48 inch T5HO lamps with individual reflectors. I'd also like to get the 250 watt MHs back into service but don't want to use the old magnetic ballasts the fixture came with, they're monstrous and probably inefficient. I plan to run them on separate electronic ballasts, one for each bulb so as to control them individually.

[Parker]

The lighting on a FOWLR is for your benifit so you can see the fish in the tank, make it as bright or dim as you prefer. You can certianly throw some low light corals in the tank with the lighting you have. Just place them high in the tank and you should be fine.

[mark]

Like Parker said, if running a FO the light is just to see the fish.

When I was running my 75g as FOWLR started with a couple NO 48" 40w fluorescents.