yet another lighting question

[gobies]

Okay, I'm getting more confused the more I read, and as I've never actually seen light from an actinic bulb by itself....

 

Do you count the watts from any actinic bulbs in calculations of watts per gallon?

 

Here's what started it.... At one point, I had thought that anything more than 6 wpg was putting you in the "clams and SPS only, please" range. Now, someone's suggesting that I put 2x96w daylight bulbs and two 30w NO actinics over a 30g long tank, and he knows I am most definitely not doing SPSs or clams. If you calculate that out, you get 8.4 wpg. But if you take the actinics out of the calculation, you get 6.4 wpg.

 

And isn't that still at or over the upper limit of what you want to use for LPS?

:confused:

[tinyreef]

the lighting question! my head hurts already!

 

the watts per gallon rule is more of a guideline than a rule. there are so many setups (tank configurations and light fixtures) that that rule really should be tossed. it was for a time in the hobby where all you had was NO lights over a rectangular tank. when the o'dells fought the oceanics, it was either all-glass or perfecto, and dinosaurs ruled the earth.

 

nowadays you've got NO (old geezers), HO (nearly extinct), VHO (semi-oldie but goodie), PC (wal-mart, good quality & great prices), and MH (mini-suns). plus, you've got larger tanks and curved ones at that! PLUS, they come in plastic! ??? yeesh!

 

imho, what determines your light is first and foremost your livestock. (we're assuming we already have money, ok? since we're imagining) second consideration would be your tank configuration. then you should take into account your aquascaping. with more info you can make a better decision or receive more accurate advice. good luck!

[gobies]

Okay, then let's turn this into a "help gobies figure out what lighting to use on her tank" thread.

 

The tank: 30g long: 36"x13"x17", rectangular, glass.

Sandbed: see www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3360

Refugium: probably a 5.5g, located 4' above and 1' to the right of the tank

Corals: existing: hammer, cabbage leather, green star polyps, shrooms, brown/green buttons, purplish finger leather

Corals: future: frogspawn, brain, candycane, blaustasoma, encrusting gorgonian, and maybe a couple others I'm forgetting.

I have no plans to do SPS or clams in this tank.

[tinyreef]

i hope i didn't sound snotty or anything in my last post. it definitely didn't mean to be.

 

aside from the obvious MH answer, i'd go vho (3x36", 2-50/50 & 1-actinic) with that setup and it's not just because i personally like them. the true actinic from the uri's are going to fluoresce everything you listed except for the leather and gorgonian. it'll be worth it for that alone. :love:

 

the pc actinics will also fluoresce a little but once you see the corals under true actinics you'll never go back. a lot of people lament that the coral looked greener or purpler at the lfs (they use vho actinics). they're cheaper bulb-wise and energy-wise. and imo, i find them better made quality-wise (the blown glass of the bulb).

 

the par from the vho is also better than the pc although the pc's are technically brighter (spectrum issues to the human eye). i personally use the aquasuns but they're usually too purple for people. (funky!) the pc's are fine but if you do graduate to sps or clams you'd have a better chance with vho's than pc's because of the par.

 

all that being said if your tank was taller by 12" or more i would have said MH (supplemented with vho actinic).

[gobies]

Um, just about everything I've read says you have to replace the VHOs every 6-9 months. The exception is stuff from IceCap that says their ballast gives you a year of live on the VHO bulbs. Are you using the IceCap ballast, and how often do you have to change bulbs?

 

Cost is a factor here. Champion lighting lists the 3x36" VHO retrofit setup as about $250, on sale.

[tinyreef]

are there other ballasts other than icecaps? ???

 

jk yeah, i finally migrated over to vho from years under pc. my wife's still screaming at me for the bill. wtf is this $$$ on the amex card? X)

 

i'd planned on doing the 1-yr change. but after using almost every pc maker and bulb the vho's still won out. i just wish i had done them first and swallowed once :*( i keep a log of true costs that i show NO ONE! i don't need another divorce!

 

champ's the lowest i've found but i just missed an ebay auction for a 660 4-lite system around $125! X) double X) *@$@#%#$!