Lighting question

I inherited a 40 gallon tank 15 tall x 15 wide x 36 long,45lbs live rock with coraline.Tank used to be a reef but the last owner had fish only.It is currently badly under lit with only 40 watts (2-24inch NO flourescents 1 in actinic,1 in full sun)I want to return it to glory and keep corals.I am looking into replacing the hood and tank cover with a double strip compact flourescent fixture equalling 192 watts with actinic,10,000k and 6500k and ditching the tank cover to help gas exchange.Iv looked at the coralife with the mounting legs and Satellite compact flourescent fixtures.I am open to recomendations and feedback as I am new to Salt but reading alot and trying to do the right thing.

Thanks

 

hey reddog welcome to 3 reef

nothing wrong with PC IMO - for soft corals, shrooms, Zoas, GSP, leathers etc
but dont go with 6500K thats a plant light really and it will grow algae

you want 10k at least and a couple of blue 20K (actinics) IMO 4 in total would be good (2 x 10k and 2 actinic)

Steve

 

Is this going to be a reef? If it is, I would HIGHLY suggest not going with PC's. They are at about the bottom end of lighting, and are currently being phased out of the hobby by the industry for reefs.
T5's, MH, or both(!) would be what I would recommend. I run a 150W halide with 2 54W T5's over my 40 and it is awesome. Halides will be the best, but they are expensive and use a ton of electricity. T5's are very good, and will be cheaper in the long run than even the PC's, as the bulbs will last nearly twice as long and use less electricity than power compacts.

 

+1 on these comments with regard better alternative -
a canopy of T5s will increase your options on live stock greatly

look at the TEK range of canopies, they are very popular with T5 users

Steve

 

Thanks for the welcome.
Yes its going to be a reef if I can afford it.I also need a skimmer but thats another thread.
So the Compacts are sub par is what Im hearing and if fazed out would be a waste of money?I was only leaning that way because they were a little cheaper and seemed to put out around the same watts...Would I be better off keeping the hood,ditching the cover and just adding a t5 retro kit instead of a new fixture to save $.How much heat do they put off?Would I need to install a fan in the hood?Its plastic and I dont know if it would hold up.Thoughts?

 

Hey reddog - The good news, you dont have to upgrade tomorrow
and as I stated earlier , you can keep some species under PC (many do, they just are not on and posting yet)

you can upgrade should you decide to do so, in the future

if you do go T5 , you can certainly look at retro for your existing hood

T5 do not get overly hot (I use 6 x 80 watts on my tank) and if they are raised above the tank on legs like the fixtures are, you get good ventilation which cools and good gas exchange

Steve

 

PCs could be a good lighting system but the way the bulbs are folded on themselves there is no way to produce an effective reflector.. much of the light is wasted as it lights the other half of the bulb. This is not only inefficient but wastes your money as well.
I am the PC guy, I have SO many fixtures in my closet that are collecting dust its not even funny. I can't even sell them for less than it would cost to buy only bulbs.. BUT you don't want to enter the PC realm now, when I bought most of those fixtures T5 where just gaining momentum and I was always hesitant of MHs cost and heat...
Saying all that I was sucessful maintaining all types of soft coral, LPS and even some SPS... but if you want a full blow reef or even a reef that you are not wasting more money than you need to skip the PC.. T5 is cheap, very effective/efficient and will grow anything contrary to what some may say.

Look for single lamp reflectors when researching your fixtures. Also look for polished Miro IV aluminum which is just about the most reflective we can get ATM.
Don't be hung up on wattage or WPG, I have a little over 3 WPG and can grow WAY more stuff in this 180 than I ever could with almost 7 WPG of PC!!!

Tek is a good fixture, any of the Aquactinics models are GREAT fixtures.... The cheapest I would recommend is the Nova Extreme Pro, but if you can swing it go for the Tek.

Happy lighting!

 

Ok so time to rethink my lighting options.Im gonna look into a t5 retro kit as I also need a skimmer and my FREE tank is now getting very pricey.Thanks for everyones input
Any further input is appreciated also

Thanks

 

Skimmer 1st - you only have fish at present and they are fine under PC

Upgrade, fantastic on lights , but you can wait until you start to look at corals

Steve

 

no the tank is currently lit by 2- NO 24" bulbs equalling 40watts
I was looking to upgrade to the compacts.Now im looking at the 36" Nova Extreme 4x39W T-5 W /3 Lunar
Will that be sufficient?