Lighting for reef tanks

A friend of mine who has had corals(don't know what kind) and apparantly
anemones had a 90 gallon tank and was selling off his equipment. He said
the light fixture was 48" and I knew that would fit my 55 gallon tank which
I plan to make a reef tank. So I assumed it would be at least 200 W or
better since he had a tank with anemones on 90 gallon.

When I looked at the light, it looked like the light that comes with tanks.
Just a regular 48" fixture with 2 flourescent bulbs (not compact, just the
regular type). One actnic and one regular both only 40 watts each.

Is it possible to have a reef tank in 55 gallon(let alone his 90 gallon)
with just 80W of regular flourescent bulbs?

Absolutely !

Though the corals will only live a few days.
But you can restock it once a month :-)

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets


ONJ wrote on 6/28/2007 9:26 AM:
A friend of mine who has had corals(don't know what kind) and apparantly
anemones had a 90 gallon tank and was selling off his equipment. He said
the light fixture was 48" and I knew that would fit my 55 gallon tank which
I plan to make a reef tank. So I assumed it would be at least 200 W or
better since he had a tank with anemones on 90 gallon.

When I looked at the light, it looked like the light that comes with tanks.
Just a regular 48" fixture with 2 flourescent bulbs (not compact, just the
regular type). One actnic and one regular both only 40 watts each.

Is it possible to have a reef tank in 55 gallon(let alone his 90 gallon)
with just 80W of regular flourescent bulbs?

Some corals and anemones will take a little longer
to die :-)

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets


Wayne Sallee wrote on 6/28/2007 11:57 AM:
Absolutely !

Though the corals will only live a few days.
But you can restock it once a month :-)

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets


ONJ wrote on 6/28/2007 9:26 AM:
A friend of mine who has had corals(don't know what kind) and
apparantly anemones had a 90 gallon tank and was selling off his
equipment. He said the light fixture was 48" and I knew that would
fit my 55 gallon tank which I plan to make a reef tank. So I assumed
it would be at least 200 W or better since he had a tank with anemones
on 90 gallon.

When I looked at the light, it looked like the light that comes with
tanks. Just a regular 48" fixture with 2 flourescent bulbs (not
compact, just the regular type). One actnic and one regular both only
40 watts each.

Is it possible to have a reef tank in 55 gallon(let alone his 90
gallon) with just 80W of regular flourescent bulbs?

Some coral has lower light requirements than others.
You could have some MUSHROOMS (easy), CARNATION (don't get this one, hard
to keep) and ZOANTHIDS(easy).

Anemones are a different deal. They need strong lighting.

The only one I've seen to last with low lights are AIPTASIA and MOJANO
anemones which are consider more like
pest.

I have a friend who got those pink tip haitian and condi anemone for a
while with only 110watts PC, I should mention
this species are not suitable for a clownfish.

The Bubletip is the most popular and desirable for hosting a clownfish ( I
mention this because it looks very appealing to see that clown livnig in
there) but I had three when I started with ~150 watts and they didn't make
it.

My advise get the coral easy to keep (less demanding) and if you want an
anemone get a condi and feed it manually, that will help to keep it
healthy.

Good luck.

Ruben






"ONJ" wrote in message
...
A friend of mine who has had corals(don't know what kind) and apparantly
anemones had a 90 gallon tank and was selling off his equipment. He said
the light fixture was 48" and I knew that would fit my 55 gallon tank
which
I plan to make a reef tank. So I assumed it would be at least 200 W or
better since he had a tank with anemones on 90 gallon.

When I looked at the light, it looked like the light that comes with
tanks.
Just a regular 48" fixture with 2 flourescent bulbs (not compact, just the
regular type). One actnic and one regular both only 40 watts each.

Is it possible to have a reef tank in 55 gallon(let alone his 90 gallon)
with just 80W of regular flourescent bulbs?

ONJ wrote:

Is it possible to have a reef tank in 55 gallon(let alone his 90 gallon)
with just 80W of regular flourescent bulbs?

Sure. Just not for very long. :-)

George Patterson
If you torture the data long enough, eventually it will confess
to anything.

RubenD wrote:
The Bubletip is the most popular and desirable for hosting a clownfish

Yes, but they perculas don't host in them in the wild. Maroons and
Tomatoes would be the most popular fish that host these.

--Kurt

ONJ wrote:
with just 80W of regular flourescent bulbs?


You could do a fish-only tank, but I can't recommend anything considered
'reef' in there.

--Kurt

And mushrooms are not corals :-)

Also one other note, there are corals that live in
very low light conditions,and are filter feeders,
but they don't build the reef, also there are
anemones that are filter feeders that live in very
low light environments, but they are very difficult
to keep, and usually require cold water to survive.
Now since none of these build a reef, adding them to
an aquarium does not constitute a reef tank.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets


RubenD wrote on 6/28/2007 8:02 PM:
Some coral has lower light requirements than others.
You could have some MUSHROOMS (easy), CARNATION (don't get this one, hard
to keep) and ZOANTHIDS(easy).

Anemones are a different deal. They need strong lighting.

The only one I've seen to last with low lights are AIPTASIA and MOJANO
anemones which are consider more like
pest.

I have a friend who got those pink tip haitian and condi anemone for a
while with only 110watts PC, I should mention
this species are not suitable for a clownfish.

The Bubletip is the most popular and desirable for hosting a clownfish ( I
mention this because it looks very appealing to see that clown livnig in
there) but I had three when I started with ~150 watts and they didn't make
it.

My advise get the coral easy to keep (less demanding) and if you want an
anemone get a condi and feed it manually, that will help to keep it
healthy.

Good luck.

Ruben






"ONJ" wrote in message
...
A friend of mine who has had corals(don't know what kind) and apparantly
anemones had a 90 gallon tank and was selling off his equipment. He said
the light fixture was 48" and I knew that would fit my 55 gallon tank
which
I plan to make a reef tank. So I assumed it would be at least 200 W or
better since he had a tank with anemones on 90 gallon.

When I looked at the light, it looked like the light that comes with
tanks.
Just a regular 48" fixture with 2 flourescent bulbs (not compact, just the
regular type). One actnic and one regular both only 40 watts each.

Is it possible to have a reef tank in 55 gallon(let alone his 90 gallon)
with just 80W of regular flourescent bulbs?

"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message
...

And mushrooms are not corals :-)


What do you mean? They are refered as coral everywhere.

Please explain.

Never mind.

Still they make a great tank addition.

Go for it.



Ruben

"RubenD" wrote in message
t...
"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message
...

And mushrooms are not corals :-)


What do you mean? They are refered as coral everywhere.

Please explain.