Not sure what to get

Hello again everyone, I have couple questions about lighting. My setup is a 90 gal FO tank that i would like to add some live rock to very soon. Once i get this tank rolling on easy mode (fish in there, not sick for a good period of time) i'd like to consider some corals. Perhaps one day an anemone. I know my current lighting is sub-par, perhaps for even some of my fish. Anyways, one thing I do know is id rather stay away from MH lights, they are too hot and expensive to run over time. I wouldn't refuse them, but i'm pretty sure there's good alternatives out there. Money isn't really a big issue, i like to save it when i can, but i understand quality lighting is extremely important.

That all being said, could i please get some recommendations of a proper lighting fixture/bulb setup for my 90 gal tank? Also, i have been trying to do some research on this myself and am curious what all this 'retrofit' business is about. i'm assuming there are some new fluorescent bulbs that have a different interface to the fixture now?


Thx all!

 

One thing, do you have a hood or will the lights have room to breath? If there is no hood, i strongly recommend you looking at the 6 or 8 bulb tek-5 fixture (beware, 8 bulb = 19" deep) I upgraded from PCs and the t-5HO are much brighter...infact right no i have 98w (2 of the 4 bulbs on) and its the same if not nicer than when i had 260w of PC. check out www.reefgeek.com

 

Retrofit means, for example, on my old tank I had an Eclipse 3 hood. That hood contained the mechanical and biological filtration, as well as 2 fluorescent bulbs. I bought a retrofit kit for the lights, which took out all the housing and wires for the old fluorescent bulbs, and wired me to put a Power Compact (PC) bulb instead. Retrofits are mainly to change your current light fixture to hold a different type without buying an all new fixture. As far as MH is concerned, I personally don't use them, I have PCs, and am being pretty successful. Although thats just because I can't afford MH, but if you can afford it, MH is the best way to go. It's light is second only to the sun, which of course the sun is how corals and anemones and all that fun stuff live. I wouldn't go any less than PCs or T-5s. Actually I just bought a new PC fixture, and wish I had gone with T-5s instead. Oh well. How long has your tank been running? Do you want to keep corals in the future?

 

The tank has been going for about 3 months, with fish being added since three weeks ago. I have some interest in keeping corals in the future if i can keep a stable environment for my fish going. I am new to marine fish keeping but have had a freshwater system established for about ten years or so. So i would like to try to take slow, i got in a hurry already and have one sick fish in a QT because of it poor guy is getting better tho thankfully

So I will spend tonight reading up on PC and t-5HO lights for sure. Any recommendations on bulb temperature, 6500K vs 10000K etc. Not quite sure how to go about choosing those for sure.

Thanks again

Edit:

would something like this be what im looking for, or is this not enough wattage?
http://www.thatpetplace.com/Product...ct/T1/F38EX 0434 0111/EDP/47986/Itemdy00.aspx

 

That fixture, unfortunately, would not offer enough wattage for a 90gal. It comes to 2.4 watts per gallon. The rule of thumb is 3-5, but I have more then 6wpg and I still can't keep SPS or clams. Which is fine with me because I'm not really interested in SPS, I like soft corals and LPS. You would need something that would yield 540 watts, atleast, depending on what kinds of corals interest you. You will definitely need to add some live rock though. I'm not sure what aragonite is. You have 60#, so is it rock of sorts? I know I added a big piece of dead coral, and now it serves as LR, as it has since been grown over with corraline algae and stuff. 3 months is a decent amount for a new tank, but after adding LR you will probably want to wait a month before adding anything else, including fish. That will ensure a good nitrogen cycle, and stable water conditions. Then once you upgrade your light, start off with some mushroom corals. Those things are THE hardiest corals, in my opinion. I've had mine pretty much since I started, and they have survived EVERYTHING. Moving back and forth from CA, apartments, less then perfect water conditions, pathetic lighting, to name a few. A good soft coral to start with is a colt or xenia, both of which I have and are doing great. Brains are good, I loved mine, but it died. It survived pretty much all the same things my mushrooms did though, then I'm pretty sure it died because I didn't replace my PC bulb for like a year. Oh well, live and learn. Keep that in mind, too. Bulbs need to be replaced after so many months, and the time frame depends on the bulb (PC, T-5, MH...all last longer or shorter depending on the type). They will still look bright to you, but to the corals, they are not photosynthesizing after so many months without a bulb change.

 

Serotonin, check out the 6 or 8 bulb t-5HO fixtures, i know a few people with large tanks (100+) that keep sps and clams with t-5ho, one rule of thumb is that wpg does not apply like it used to. Because...as we all know a 70w mh is more powerful than 70w of pc. Same goes for t-5...but its good 54w t-5ho is the same as 96w of pc.

 

Well I did a bit of looking around and I wonder if this is a good choice?

http://www.aquariumguys.com/48outerorbit.html

I think this is about the most I am willing to spend on lighting at this time. Could I maybe get something comparable for less?

 

That would be perfectly fine! Try ebay too, check this out http://cgi.ebay.com/DUAL-175-W-Meta...760880101QQcategoryZ46314QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

But it doesnt include the MH bulbs, or you could check out something like this http://cgi.ebay.com/48-Orbit-EXTREM...759973558QQcategoryZ46314QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Ebay is great for stuff like this. I got all my lighting, power heads, skimmer...all off ebay for a lot better prices! Even after shipping costs.