VHO Lighting

I am pretty sure I have VHO lighting. Would this be enough to keep anemones, corals, or clams? Also, when could I add a clam and what kind should I get? My tank is in its 3rd week of cycling. Any help is appreciated!

 

Need some specs on the lighting fixture (wattage)

 

How big around are the bulbs?

 

your gonna wait a little longer for the clam than three weeks.

 

Okay, I may be a beginner, but Ive done research. My aquarium solutions dude said more than two months after the tank has cycled

 

I waited over a year to get a clam actually. IMO, two months is still a bit early!!

As asked before, do you know the wattage of your bulbs?

 

yeah i am checking it. ill do it in the morning

 

i would start with zoas and some xenia,gsp mushrooms etc (i hate shrooms personally but they are not demanding... ricordea mushrooms look good) zoas u can get some really exotic beautiful varieties and u can put those in as soon as you're done cycling... they grow fast under variable lighting conditions and are tolerant of imperfect water quality.

look up eagle eye zoas, purple/blue hornet zoas, orqnge bambam, they're are some really beautiful exotic looking ones...and personally i think at this point you can justify spending 60 on a zoa frag more easily than a clam... clamz have particularly high lighting requirements and even with vho lighting would need to be placed at the top of the tank.

also wattage matters, your tank is 21" deep which means you'll probably want at least t5ho with slr's... i would say 2x110w vho would be sufficient for all the zoas and other corals i mentioned. lps and up id say 4x110w... if the bulbs are t12 and 110w ea you have VHO, they are the large diameter bulb like youd see in an office building... old school but effective at shallow depths. if you have t12s and they are 40w they are NO (normal output) and will work for zoas xenia gsp shrooms etc. if you have 3 or 4 of them but that would be bare minimum and will absolutely not be strong enough for a clam under any circumstances.

shoot for about 6-8 watts per gallom for a clam, and like i said unless you have t5 with slrs or a mh light itd need to be near the top.

3-5 watts per gallon for less demanding corals

 

Decent advice again but WPG? Really?
I have about 3.5WPG over my 180, with SPS more than 2/3rds the way down and a maxima maybe 4 inches off the bottom.

I also had about 6ish WPG over my 75 of PC and could barely get SPS to grow even montis...

 

Yes, watts per gallon is a pretty archaic way of determining if you have enough light over your tank.