lighting for 40 gal. reef

[Andrew]

I have a question for someone (or more than one someone)
about lighting. setting up my 40 gal., w/cured rock and live sand this weekend.
I know it'll be a while before i can have corals, but when time comes,
thinking of 5-7 total ( at least to start ), such as shrooms, buttons, green starburst, colonial anemones, a leather or 2 (&anemone -some type that compatible w/either ocellaris, or tomato clown, haven't decided which yet). Later after I get my feet wet, would like a hammer, open brain, and a few others.

Will 196w Compact Flourescent setup (one actinic, one reg.) be sufficient to keep these corals thriving, or do I have to get MH or VHO setup, which will be significantly more expensive for this college student (me, that is)

Your (s) (: help has been and will be greatly appreciated
andrew

[Andrew]

ok

[Andrew]

it's same size as 30 gal long, except wider.

only an x on my most recent post.

[matt]

I have the same tank, I think. Mine is a 45 breeder, 36X18X 16 deep. Some people call it a 40 breeder; i don't know the real volume. Anyhow, I suggest you use either a single 400 watt MH or 2 175W. I'm using the pair of 175w 10K ushios, and the light is terrific. There's a thread on either reefcentral or reefs.org about DIY MH for about $100 for a single bulb set up. It actually costs abit more; like $40 for the socket/reflector, $60 for the bulb, and about $50 for the advance ballast and wiring. This is for the iwaski bulb, which is a proven winner for coral growth. Most people like to supplement it with actinics, but you could start with just the MH and get the PC actinic when you have a few more bucks.

Or cruise for a used MH set up. Basically all you need is a ballast, reflector/socket set-up, and a bulb. You could get that new for about $250, i think. If you hunt, it won't be more than a new 2X96 P.C. set up, and I'm sure you'll like the light better for keeping corals.

HTH
Matt

[Andrew]

thanks for the recomendations

Another question pertaining to my setup. . .
planning on going w/ cpr Bak Pak 2/R, lots of live rock, and was reading a book that encouraged not to use a sand medium b/c it collects nitrates in a berlin type setup(unless a plenum utilized). Does this mean I should not use the live sand (that I already have)?, or does it refer to non-live sand?Or, will I just have to make more frequent water changes?

(I can't do a plenum because it would take up 1/3 or more of total area in my tank, and greatly restrict view)

And, is it possible to have too much light over the tank? 2--175w bulbs, obviously, would give me 350w(8+ watts per gallon), + whatever wattage of the actinics.

I appreciate all you guyses' Help! :)

[matt]

Hi;

In answer to your light question, it's not really possible to overdo the light if you're planning on keeping shallow water (photosynthetic) animals. You'll have a hard time getting even a fraction of the intensity of natural sunlight on a reef. The only thing is, with a rediculous amount of light, like 3 400W bulbs, you'd have a real hard time keeping the temp down to a safe level (<84o) Believe me, 2 175W is not too much. A former local coral grower, John Moffet, raised most of his corals in 45 breeders lit by a single 400W iwasaki. If I was starting over, that's probably what I would use.

As far as the sand bed goes, you might check out Ron Shimek's many articles on keeping a deep sand bed. I personally can't imagine a tank without sand, but I know people do it. I'm pretty sure a sand bed will not contribute to nitrates; if you were to have a 3"-4" deep sand bed, made primarily with "sugarfine" aragonite, like southdown, and stock the sand bed with a good microfauna, you'll process a lot of nitrate out of the system. This is, in fact, why many people keep sand beds. I would ditch the plenum idea.

Good luck
Matt

[ratboy]

I ran my 45 reef w/ 2 96W pc for many years and kept all the corals that you are interesteeed in. I used (still do just now I only have 2x 55w PCs) a 4 " sand bed, refugium and no skimmer. I had my pair of ocellaris clowns and at one time had 6 green bulb anenomes filling most of the tank. I moved most of the corals and anenomes into my 90 but I keep the 45 for frags and it still is one of the bets setups Ive ever had.

[Andrew]

sounds good(:
been delayed so i won't have my tank up for another week
but your help is most welcome (I'm new to reefkeeping - only done FOWLR in the past and can't wait to get started(but i'm going slow) -happy to have been referred to this org.)