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Beanz
01-07-2011, 04:19 AM
Hi all i am wondering what would b a good light for my 4' 45 gallon tank, it has a 15" of water in it. i am not looking at spending a whole lot of money on it but i could save if needed. Just want to know a good light that'd work for this application. Don't have a budget yet so.. ya lol. Rigt now i have a coralife dual t5 thing. Anyways any input would b appreciated.

Cheers, Ian

daniella3d
01-07-2011, 04:25 AM
T5 are best for coloring zoanthids up. Zoanthids are hard to keep, those beautiful and rare that is.


I have them under metal halide in my 75 gallons and under T5 in my 21 gallons nano and the colors are very different. For exemple, I have a frag of pink and gold paly in both tank from the same frag and in the 75 gallon with MH 14k light they are dull and with very long tentacles, mostly gold in color. In the 21 gallons with 4 x 24 watt 2 actinic, 1 fiji purple and one 14k aquablue special, the color is really nice with the pink in the center quite intense and the skirt being gold. The tentacles on those under T5 and short and fat, the tentacles under 14k MH are long and skinny.

So I prefer the T5 for my zoanthids growth and color. You should probably go for a 48" 4 neon fixture as 2 is probably not enough.

Hi all i am wondering what would b a good light for my 4' 45 gallon tank, it has a 15" of water in it. i am not looking at spending a whole lot of money on it but i could save if needed. Just want to know a good light that'd work for this application. Don't have a budget yet so.. ya lol. Rigt now i have a coralife dual t5 thing. Anyways any input would b appreciated.

Cheers, Ian

Beanz
01-07-2011, 02:29 PM
Do you think that this would work?
http://oceanaquatics.com/store/product/237/Tek-T-5-48%22-4-Bulb-Fixture/

gobytron
01-07-2011, 02:34 PM
I think that would work just fine for most zoas and a lot of softies and lps too.

daniella3d
01-07-2011, 03:17 PM
Yes Tek lights are good lights, at least juging how happy people seem to be with them.

I would take the optional acrylic protector though as it is a mess to clean salt creep and dust going inside the fixture. It is easy enough to remove it if you don,t want it but I leave mine always because I always have to clean that acrylic cover about every 2 weeks because it's full of splash and my fixture is 10" high.

Later you could change the bulb for 1 aquablue special, 2 actinic, 1 fiji purple, or a 20k bulb.


Do you think that this would work?
http://oceanaquatics.com/store/product/237/Tek-T-5-48%22-4-Bulb-Fixture/

Beanz
01-07-2011, 09:16 PM
Ok i think illget this light, just wondering what a good bulb set up is if i want good growth and want the zoas to really pop

Beanz
01-08-2011, 11:50 PM
bump

daniella3d
01-08-2011, 11:52 PM
Well I gave you a suggestion with 2x actinic, 1 x fiji purple and 1 x aquablue special or 20k bulb.

Else it basicaly a matter of personal taste. You could put 2 x aquablue special and 2 x actinic.

bump

Beanz
01-09-2011, 03:36 AM
Could u maybe post that setup u have along with the bulbs u have too plz? or maybe give me a link plz?

daniella3d
01-09-2011, 03:57 AM
If you want to have some reference of what's available, here at goreef there are some of the available bulb:

http://www.goreef.com/54W-T5-Fluorescent-bulbs/

You coud 2 actinic like these:

http://www.goreef.com/ATI-T5-HO-54W-ACTINIC.html or

http://www.goreef.com/UV-Lighting-T5-HO-54W-Super-Actinic.html

and one Fiji purple:

http://www.goreef.com/Korallen-Zucht-54W-Fiji-Purple-T5-HO.html

And one aquablue special:

http://www.goreef.com/ATI-T5-HO-54W-12000K-AQUABLUE-SPECIAL.html

or this one, but more expensive:

http://www.goreef.com/Korallen-Zucht-54W-New-Generation-14000K-T5-HO.html

So you would get 2 actinic which you put on one switch and one fiji purple and one aquablue which you put on another switch, so that way you can shut off the purple and aquablue and leave only actinic in the evening to make the coral color pop. You could only use the 12k or 14k and the fiji purple for 6 or 7 hours per day, mid day for the growth and use the actinic in the evening for pop.




Could u maybe post that setup u have along with the bulbs u have too plz? or maybe give me a link plz?

Skimmerking
01-09-2011, 03:59 AM
you want cheap lighting
get 2x normal florescent shop fixtures and run 2x NO actinic's and 2x 6500K normal florescent from Canadian tire

Beanz
01-09-2011, 04:17 AM
Ok thanks guys, i think ill get the tek light cause the tank is in my room and i want that sleek look. i think ill get what daniella3d suggested with the 2 actinics and a purple and the 14000k white one. just outta curiosity what do fiji purples do? good for growth or what?

daniella3d
01-09-2011, 05:19 AM
I am not so sure what they do for zoanthids but since they help to color up some sps I am thinking it's a good base for coloring up zoanthids as well.

I consider that when I have this and the 14k light I get a good wavelength of light and this add some red light that might be missing otherwise. I think it's a more complete wavelength of light with the fiji purple. Some people don't like it as it add some reddish tint, but I wanted to try it and see if it was enhancing the colors of my corals. Too early to tell but there is good growth anyway :)

Here in this threat you can see the difference in light the fiji add. Scroll at the bottom of that page and see the pics.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=43277

Here is another good thread about the effect of the fiji purple:

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=199114


If you don't like the fiji purple look you could go with 2 x actinic and 2 x aquablue special or 2 x new generation.


Ok thanks guys, i think ill get the tek light cause the tank is in my room and i want that sleek look. i think ill get what daniella3d suggested with the 2 actinics and a purple and the 14000k white one. just outta curiosity what do fiji purples do? good for growth or what?

Beanz
01-10-2011, 03:01 AM
ok ill have to think about what i want. thanks for the info tho. ill get back to this thread in like a month with pics of what i have. when i have the cash i will b buying this stuff.

Cheers, Ian

Beanz
01-14-2011, 05:21 PM
Ok so I was thinking and I kinda wanna go the MH route now. I lime the 70w IBM k-2 viper I have on my 15. I am wondering of two 150w jbj k-2 vipers would work over my 45 to keep some sps near the top and zoas and lps a little lower in the tank? And then I could just get new actinics for that coralife fixture that I already have. Would this work do u think?? It would b less expensive and I really like the look the the fixture nice and sleek and also like the coloring o the bums it comes with. Anyways any input is appreciated.

Cheers, ian

daniella3d
01-14-2011, 07:54 PM
Yes it would work. I have quite a bit of zoanthids at the bottom of my tank lit by 250 watt MH and my tank is 24" high and some have colored up very nicely. 150watt is a little low unless your tank is around 20" high or less. You could also put them high in the tank.

Each zoanthids have different requirement for light and if you see some getting longer body and stretching, it needs more light. Generaly zoanthids with lower light will have larger polyps and a little less color and those with higher light will have a bit more color but will be smaller. I like larger polyps :)

What is important is the wavelength and should be 14k, no less. 10k light makes the zoanthids turn brown. This is why a PC light is not good because there is not much good choise in the wavelength of the light.

Metal halide is something else and I can see my coral in general much prefer it to the T5, especialy the alveopora and duncan, plus the shimmer is awesome. Go for it :)

Ok so I was thinking and I kinda wanna go the MH route now. I lime the 70w IBM k-2 viper I have on my 15. I am wondering of two 150w jbj k-2 vipers would work over my 45 to keep some sps near the top and zoas and lps a little lower in the tank? And then I could just get new actinics for that coralife fixture that I already have. Would this work do u think?? It would b less expensive and I really like the look the the fixture nice and sleek and also like the coloring o the bums it comes with. Anyways any input is appreciated.

Cheers, ian