how many watts per gallon do you have for light??? and what do you have in your tank

[Gseclipse02]

i have been wondering this every one has mixed reviews but i wanted to see what every one has

[RayAllen]

I voted but

The watts per gallon rule "if you will" is not accurate. T5s and LEDs are proving that. Guys with 3 watts per gallon on keeping high light SPS, clams, anemones etc....

[Gseclipse02]

I voted but

The watts per gallon rule "if you will" is not accurate. T5s and LEDs are proving that. Guys with 3 watts per gallon on keeping high light SPS, clams, anemones etc....


i didnt even think about that .... ok.. so i guess state what kind of lights you have also ???

[hobogato]

couldnt vote - not sure of the wattage of my sunlight coming in (solar tubes) added to the 3 watts per gallon of t5 i have.

i voted based on the lighting i used to run - MH and t5 actinic suppliment (it was actually a little above my vote)

[cpreefguy]

^^^ Someone needs a Quantum meter! :)

[cpreefguy]

I couldn't vote either, I have 10 watts per gallon

[blindside]

I use 5 watts per gallon, is that ok? :)

[Joshua]

I'm in the 5-6 watts range and all I have is live rock at the moment. :p

[dustint21]

8 wpg here! I keep everything SPS,LPS,and softies! MH's and VHO's

[wesheltonj]

I have 4.2 watts per gallon using LED

[Gseclipse02]

can a mod at 9-10 and 10-11 to the poll ??

[hobogato]

done.

[Mr Cob]

I have 6 watts per gallon on a 120gallon. I keep SPS, LPS, and softies including 2 GBTA's.

I have 2 x 250w MH with 2 x 110w VHO actinics.

Note: Watts per gallon doesn't really prove to mean much without other details such as live stock you are keeping and depth of the tank along with how far the lights are from the surface of the tank and of course type of lighting.

For example: My lighting is not that intense because I have a deep tank (4x 2x 2)...and my lights are about 8 inches from the surface and I have to keep high lighting corals at the top of my reef.

[glennr1978]

I run a 250w mh and 2x's 24w T5's over my 40g. So that comes out to just under 7.5w per gallon. I do agree with those that posted this above, watts per gallon is irrelevant.

I keep SPS, but have a few softies too.

[seaurchin]

I'm running 644 watts of pc's on my 100. 4x96w and 4x65w

[brewercm]

I voted 3-4 watts per gallon, as I'' be running a TX5 which is five 39 watt bulbs, so 3.36 watts per gallon (once the tank is up and running) on my 58 gallon tank.

[LoneStar]

I voted but

The watts per gallon rule "if you will" is not accurate. T5s and LEDs are proving that. Guys with 3 watts per gallon on keeping high light SPS, clams, anemones etc....

Bingo!

I'm running 3.25 watts per gallon using LED. My live stock is mainly SPS with a hint of zoas :thumbs_up:

[Noober]

:lightbulb:I am more expierenced on this subject than I am on actual reefing. I would say, the best way to rate it, not saying that i'm totally right, but watts per square footage on your tank is a much better way to rate it. You could have 1 250 watt mh that is 1 ft over an sps coral and have a 500 gallon tank and the coral would thrive would it not? Light penetration diminishes very fast with flouro's, either t5, vho, compact flouro's, or just regular flouro's. For growing with them i'd say 1-4 inches away from the light source and you've lost most of the lumens on a regular flouro. With vho's and t5's and such it can get 1-2 ft away. With flouro's you can evenly distribute the light and when compacting many of them together you form a nice blanket of light over your whole tank while using less wattage than if you were to try to light your whole tank with MH's and less heat. Dont get me wrong, MH's penetrate way deeper and if your tank is over 2 ft deep i would really recommend using MH bulbs. But on a two ft deep tank or less, Flouro's can penetrate enough to grow good softies on the bottom of the tank and all your sps's and stuff at the top will be recieveing good lumens. Like I mentioned earlier you could have a 1x1 tank that is 10 ft tall and if you have a 1000 watt MH above the tank, the sps at the bottom of the tank would not recieve enough light even though you have 13 watts per gallon. Any thoughts on Watt's per Sq. Ft?

[cowboy572]

Okay since we are talking lighting here, I have a question. I have a 100gal I plan to set up next year. Being a 5ft tank what are my options. I am looking at t-5's because I keep my tank in my bedroom. I have found 60 inch retro fit t-5 fixtures and bulbs. But I was wondering if a properly placed 48in fixture will allow a newbie like me to keep a reef tank including fish, sps and beginner lps?

[Gseclipse02]

put all your sps in the center of the tank and give your fish room to swim on the sides lol jk jk


yall brought out some good points ... i think im going to go ahead use the 2 250W MH i have instead of the 2 150mh that are on it right now.... i wouldn't mind adding some T-5 actinics

[CoryDude]

I never really trusted the whole t5 and "doesn't matter with watts per gallon". But, I can say after installing my first 4X54 t5 fixture on a 60 gallon; they're right. With these newer bulbs, you get better light penetration w/few watts per gallon.

That said, I still have about 9 watts per gallon on a 90 gallon. 2X250W halides and 3X110W actinics.

[justahobby]

I voted 7-8 wpg (7.6) when I switch to HQI and 2 PCs this weekend. Been running 3.3 wpg for a while and I have mostly softies and a BTA. Also been keeping a SPS ruffled ridge coral succesfully...what a great coral. This is the first one I've seen and man I love it.

[Dee]

I've got a question...I've got a Coralife fixture with 2 150W MH and 2 96W actinics. My tank is a 120 that is 4ft long and 2 feet deep. Based on some recent conversations with people, I'm concerned that the wattage isn't strong enough to penetrate to the bottom of the tank? Any insight into this?

Thanks,
Dee

[Gseclipse02]

I've got a question...I've got a Coralife fixture with 2 150W MH and 2 96W actinics. My tank is a 120 that is 4ft long and 2 feet deep. Based on some recent conversations with people, I'm concerned that the wattage isn't strong enough to penetrate to the bottom of the tank? Any insight into this?

Thanks,
Dee


i forgot to get back with you on that .... every shop that i have talked to ( since we last talked) tells me different things ... some saying that the 2 150's were plenty of light and some saying that i needed 2 400's to have great lighting then some said the 250's would be plenty so yea.... lol

[hobogato]

when i ran halides, i ran 250 watt SE on a 2' deep tank. Sanjay Joshi presented at MACNA a couple of years ago and showed that many people were running 250 watters over 30" tanks with plenty of par. he said that 400 watters were too much for many applications.

[Gseclipse02]

when i ran halides, i ran 250 watt SE on a 2' deep tank. Sanjay Joshi presented at MACNA a couple of years ago and showed that many people were running 250 watters over 30" tanks with plenty of par. he said that 400 watters were too much for many applications.



what about 150's on 2'

[dustint21]

It depends on what you want to keep! If you want SPS and you want to keep them somewhere other than the top of the tank then go with the 250w MH! JMO!

[dustint21]

I have been thinking about adding another 250w MH to the 2 I already have. Alot of people would prolly say I dont need it! IMO Im not getting the growth I would like outta the 2 250w MH's I am running now. My tank is 2ft deep. 4ft long!

[brewercm]

dustint21
You might be better off upgrading your reflector and keeping it at two 250's. The Luminarcs would give you a much better spread depending on the reflector you are using.

This whole conversation really should take reflectors into consideration. You can put eight T5 bulbs over your tank but without decent reflectors you are probably getting less light than with a four bulb fixture with the good stuff.

[cpreefguy]

^^^ You've got that right Cliff!
Reflectors in both cases, and cooling cooling as well in the case of T5s.

[dustint21]

My reflectors arent great! But is it worth the money to upgrade? LT1Z28 used these reflectors on his tank and he had great growth! I have a huge center brace in the middle of my tank and I think that may be some of the problem. So I was thinking of putting the third over the top of it and moving the other to out a bit.

[cpreefguy]

Definitely worth the money to invest in a good reflector, like a lumenarc. coralreefbazaar.com (sponsor here, good prices) has them. I have used them in the past and they are very efficient.

[Ping]

http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/s/b/sbj4/aquarium/aquarium.html

Subject Matter Expert on aquarium lighting.

[cpreefguy]

Sanjay who? :D

[Mr3plus1]

I have VHO's and PC's with a homemade mylar reflector. Im just over 6 watts per gallon. Ive had awesome sucess with everything but SPS corals. I have an acropora that is healthy, it just takes its sweet time growing. My LPS corals, on the other hand, grow out of control.

[cpreefguy]

Back when I had 23 watts per gallon!
http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=31078&highlight=150w

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/wantedwrx/DSCN2876.jpg