bigtroy09 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 so im setting up my first salt tank. and i have a 50/50 light 10k. tube style. just was wondering what i should do. i plan on getting into the soft coral. i do like the 20k light. they look like big hid bulbs. but have no idea what to pay for a set up. also i would like to do moon lights. any help please. see my attachment if i did this right so u can see what my tank looks like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrd Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Welcome to the site! Not sure i follow, you have the 50/50 light already and are asking what type of light you should witch to for the lps or softies? It will be a good ideat to let folks know the size of tank and possibly clarify-It sounds like you have a bulb and want to know if it will work. Wattage would be needed to know as well as tank size. Welcome again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Another welcome, as mentioned there are too many details lacking. When you say tube style is this a flourescent bulb or a metal halide? Since you said it is a 50/50 I'm going to guess it is some type of flourescent (Normal, Capact, or VHO). Judging by the hydrometer height next to the tank it looks like the tank is around 20" to 22" deep. If so you will probably want 175w mh lights or equivalent in T5 or VHO for softies. Bump that up to 250w or 400w for SPS. The bulb color (temperature) itself effects both the aesthetic appearance and the coral growth. Lights close to the same temperature as the sun (6500k) tend to have faster growth while the higher temp lights (towards 20k) tend to get better color from the corals. 14k and up include the spectrum that covers the actinics to some extent which help to make flourescent colored corals pop out. This is just a little general info. though. We will need to find out the specifics on your current lighting and tank size as well (Both capacity and depth). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtroy09 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 The tank is 19" tall by 24" wide 15" deep this was using a tape measure. and it's a fluorescent tube 18'. 15watt (t8) made by coralife 10,000k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtroy09 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 I thought it was a 50/50 but I found the box my bad. And thanks for all the help guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Bigtroy, When I first got into salt water I had a very similar lighting set up. It was a 50/50 fourescent tube. I willd definatley want to upgrade to at least compact flourescents or if you want to be able to keep more than just softies, you should probably upgrade to either HO t-5's or metal halide lighting. Both will allow you to keep a large variety of corals and invertibrates such as anemones and clams but metal halides(MH) are still probably the ultimate way to go. For you size tank, I would recommend either a 24" 4 or 6 bulb t-5 fixture or retrofit custom canopy or a 24" retro/fixture 150-250w MH with either actinic CF or t-5 supplementation. You can get away without running actinic supplementation if you go with a 20K MH bulb also. There are lots of good people on this forumn that can definatley help you with your lighting questions and needs. Just remember that if you upgrade to t-5's or MH, you want need to upgrade again as your coral tastes change. Most of us start out likeing softies and things with alot of movement but then sort of transition into corals that are a bit more light demanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 check out some of current usa's lights. I think they make several MH T5 lights that are in the 24'' size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 x2 on Garretts suggestions. Being only 19" deep 150w MH or a 4 bulb T5 fixture are what I would consider minimum. A 250w MH pendant would give you enough light to put just about anything including SPS and clams in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtroy09 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 Sweet deal next month I'll let every one know what I get. Thanks for all the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtroy09 Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 IMG_0510.JPG Here it is 250w md light with eight moon lights. Bought it off eBay so far so good. It's a 15k bulb freaking sweet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algae Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Welcome! Your jpeg didn't show. An easy way is to set up a free account at photobucket and post. A big welcome from the Land of Granola! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Good choice! I have a very similar 250w MH with 8 mood led's and double actinics and really like it. I have found that even though I have enough light, SPS seems to fade away after a week or so. I stopped getting SPS frags ( thanks dj_giannti, claythesavagefraser and others) until my tank becomes " seasoned". Some say it takes between 8 months and a year to start effectively growing stonies. My softies grow well in that light set up with a 15k though. I recently added another SPS and a LPS frag ( thanks algae) and they seem to be doing fine...it's been up now for 3 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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