shop lights okay

right now i have a strong shop light with an atinic light blue and a 18000k power-glo all at 40 watts a peice a grand total of 80watts every thing looks okay so what do you say good bad okay

 

Shop lights? What is the Kalvin rating

J

 

I think he means the shop lights are the fixture. Just NO flourescent setup that he added aquarium bulbs to. 80 watts of NO flourescent on a 50 gallon tank won't support any corals except the lowest light requirements. If you get real serious about corals you will need to upgrade your lighting at some point.

 

Watch out for corrosion to start on the light connections with the system not being sealed. You know what salt does to a car don't you. It will to the same thing to any metal.

 

You will need to add to the lighting for corals. They do sell clear bulb covers at home depot and it covers the connectors as well...to prevent salt splash.

 

Way more light. That is barly enought to light plants in a freshwater tank. I did the same thing when I started. I thought it was all about the color of the bulb, but noooo I was way wrong. For a 55 gallon tank you will need about 260 watts of PC or 216 watts of t-5 lighting to penatrate far enough to do any good. Hope this helps,

Michael