In search for effective lighting for my 55

Hello Everyone!

What is the most effective Lighting for a 55g tank that I can obtain for around 150$ Shipped? I only really want it so I can get my Clown fish an anemone.

I was thinking (I know I really should stop that ) that maybe two of these would do or maybe just one of this one and pocket the 50$ for something else (suggestions are welcome).



Here's a little context:
I have a 55 gallon tank with 30 pounds of Live sand, and about 60 pounds of live rock. I run a Penguin 350 Bio Wheel Power Filter, 2 cheap powerheads, and a home made protein skimmer.

Fish List:
1 false percula
1 Six-Lined Wrasse
1 Two-spot Goby

Inverts:
?? blue legged Hermit crabs
1 Scarlet Hermit crab
Some random stuff that hitch hiked on my Live rocks (bristle worms, some Small Starfish, and other weird "bugs")

Feel free to point out anything that you think I might need.



Thanks for all the Help!
Chris

 

i started with a 4x65 pc setup like that one, it's a good light but not enough for an anemone your clown will host in. also the bulbs don't last to long so what you save upfront you will be spending in bulbs, then one fine day they'll stop making them all together.lol i'd go with t5 or metal halide. or a combo of both, or i'd buy a plastic anemone at the lfs and see if the clown will accept it. you never know

 

Lights

Thats the set-up I have and really enjoy it, But so far just mushrooms and leathers with 2 clowns, cleaner shrimp, etc..

Isn't between 4 and 5 watts per gal the average..
Untill you start getting into the real high light stuff..
It's good to change bulbs every 6 months to a year anyway..??
And with 260 watts, can't you move stuff closer to the top of the tank..??
Closer to the light..?

Later, Larry

 

Right now I have 2x65 daylight and 4x55 daylight/actinic PC's over a 75g. It is not nearly good enough. I have had a condy anenome survive fine under this array and I have gotton lucky with some light forgiving softies and LPS placed within the first 12 inches of the tank. But you can do sooooooo much better than PCs.

I don't know how much you can spend, but I'll tell you right now that lighting is not the thing to go second rate on. If I had it all over to do, I would plan my lighting out, save my money and do it right the first time. You have two (of many) routes to go that I know of.

MH: Excellent. You can keep anything. They run hot but add a really nice shimmer to the water.

T5: Excellent. There are those who say your success with clams will be limited, but I am going to take the chance on this myself. They run cooler. They have great penetration. If you get this variety, it is recommended that you get the type with the individual reflectors. The Current Nova Extreme Pro and the Tek series has these. Tangster has a sale on the Teks I believe. Look under 3reef sponsors.

Good luck. Save you money and do it right. That is my 3 cents worth.

Peace.......John.

 

I spent the money and got a MH/T5 combo fixture. For what I have right now it's overkill, but I have the peace of mind knowing that I can probably keep just about ANYTHING down the road. If you shop around, you'll find good deals on them. Just make sure you get one with cooling fans. Mine also can hang from the ceiling, which is cool because I can find that perfect balance of not heating the water but not too far over to waste light.

 

the best you will do in this money range is this type of fixture
New Wave® T5 - 44 4Ft-4 Lamp 960200 White 47”L x 11”W x 3.5”H
with using the proper bulbs then not much you could not keep in a 55..

 

I would recommend for your price range that you go the used route and look at this site or reef centrals selling forum or on ebay for some T5s. Metal halides are real nice but the bulbs only last 6 or so months and can be costly. T5s bulbs last much longer.
When you look for T5s try to get a light with individual reflectors. They are much better.

 

i am samschem here on 3reef i just purchased a 2x65w 12000k daylight and 2x65w actinic blue 260w total is this good for soft coral only 55g tank, and can anyone tell me if is good thanks.

 

its perfectly fine the truth is now most of the lights out there now can keep all but the most difficult of corals. the only differences are the looks, heat, upkeep, and price(im probably gonna get rammed on the spectrum differences and water penetration but w/e). however usually it won't pay off in the long run to go with the cheapest thing

 

You can house most corals with that lighting set up, with the exception of high light demanding corals. Before you go out and start buying all kinds of corals, make sure you do some research on they're lighting needs. Luna