Satellite 1X65 watts or 2X40 watts?

[Tanked]

My 12 gallon tank is a FOWLR set up. I'm not sure if I'll be adding any corals anytime soon. In the meantime, I'd like to upgrade my lighting and was wondering if the Current Satellite 2X40 watts fixture would be too much lighting for my set up.

[2muchreef4u]

i doubt there will ever be a time when there is 'too much' light for a saltwater tank even if it's FO. Nothing can replicate the sun in a natural reef habitat.

[uglybuckling]

"Too much light" is a relative term dependent on a lot of things including water parameters, etc etc.

 

It's actually quite easy to wind up with "too much light" in an overstocked fish only tank, because the fish produce lots of waste which, when coupled with even sufficient (not "too much") light, will give lots of algae growth.

 

But if your water parameters are good, and if you don't overfeed and you do stick to regular water changes, have good filtration, etc. etc....then as 2much suggested, it's hard to have "too much light."

 

You didn't specify stocking levels, but 2x40 over a 12 is a considerable amount of light. Macroalgae on your live rock will remove some waste chemicals, as will the bacteria in your filter (though they convert ammonia-->nitrite-->nitrate and don't really *remove* anything).

 

If you want to have a lot of light, you might consider a protein skimmer or a refugium to save you from the nutrient buildup/high light combo that turns your tank into an algae factory.

 

Or just get something that eats algae (NOT A TANG in a tank that small!)

 

--B