Question lighting

frostiex · #1 02-20-2005, 01:56 AM

Hi all..I am planning just having a about 2 clowns and a anemone plus a few others friendly fishes. I am wondering what kind of lighting do I need?
Will my regular flourescent be enough? and what kind of tube do I need if it is good enough. or if not..What should I get as a minimum

thanks.

Invigor · #2 02-20-2005, 12:55 PM

depends on the size of your tank and the anemone you plan to keep

StirCrazy · #3 02-20-2005, 02:18 PM

any anemone benifits from higher lighting, as a minimum I recomend PC or VHO, but if you look at the price it realy isn't that much more to move to a MH/VHO set up. but as was mentioned with out knowing the size of the tank as in lenght and how tall it is, it is hard to recomend any specific thing.

Steve

frostiex · #4 02-21-2005, 02:10 AM

It is a 33 gallon, I don't know the exact dimension, but I know it is about 36" in length and about 16" witdth but don't know the depth. approx. 24"

as for the anemone I want to keep, I don't remember what is was called...but at the end of the tenticles there are some blue tips on the ends...

Tarolisol · #5 02-21-2005, 02:14 AM

I think a 33 is 24" tall so at the very least if you want an anemone i would go with something like this

http://www.jlaquatics.com/cgi-bin/sh...gno=pc-al36096

Maybe upgrade to the 2x96w light fixture.

robzilla · #6 02-21-2005, 02:18 AM

i'm fairly new to sw but upon reading & reading more...look to jump into mh and save yourself some grief and $$ by going with the best lighting setup right from the start.

Tarolisol · #7 02-21-2005, 02:26 AM

I wouldnt recomend Metal Halide (MH) if all you want is a simple cost effective tank. MH cost alot to run compared to Power Compacts Or VHOs. They also require some sort of hanging ballest ot cabinet above the tank.

StirCrazy · #8 02-21-2005, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tarolisol

I wouldnt recomend Metal Halide (MH) if all you want is a simple cost effective tank. MH cost alot to run compared to Power Compacts Or VHOs. They also require some sort of hanging ballest ot cabinet above the tank.

this is a misconception MH do not cost that much more to run than the equivalent wattage of VHO or PC or NO. the only difference is ballast efficiency which for MH is around 80 to 85% and the same for tar VHO ballast, electronic VHO and PH ballast run about 90 to 95% so really it is only a 5 to 10% difference in running a MH against an efficient PH or VHO in power usage.

I started out with overdriven NO, then moved to PC, then to PC and VHO, then 175MH , PC and VHO, then two 250 watt MH and two VHO actinic. all together I have spent 5000.00 on lighting in various combinations and this was trying to be cheep and save money as I didn't believe you needed all that, well from experience I can tell you spend the extra few bucks from the beginning and go to a MH type set up. Softies like the light, LPS like the light and SPS like the light. if you are thinking clams or anemone then I would say MH for sure. yes there are some SPS and anemone that do ok under lower light but they do do better under MH from what I have found. I would have saved over 4000.00 in lighting alone if I would have just went MH/VHO to start with

Steve

Willow · #9 02-21-2005, 03:43 AM

i agree with steve with the exception of saying that mh on a 33 will create some serious heat issues. you will need to have some decent fans placed in the hood of the heat will be pretty high.

Invigor · #10 02-21-2005, 04:40 AM

my 33 was 36x12x18 and I had a 175mh on it without too much trouble..it shed a similar (visable) amount of light that my 192w power compacts did, but had the super cool shimmer to the water

however, I would recommend either a sump or a fan in the canopy blowing on the bulb.

also, in a similar scenario as steve, I've had quite the assortment of light, but I found it neat to learn for myself how different lights work for tanks and what benifits/drawbacks each kind has...I am however working my way towards 2x250w hqi's. too bad they're $$. but the plan is to never have to upgrade after that.

I found power compacts (for me) had the most noticable drop in output over the shortest amount of time, and they're not overly cheap to replace every 6 (or less) months...actinics would only last me about 4 months at 12hrs a day