Question about lighting... Be nice im a newbie

[EclipseAgent]

Right now I am looking for lighting for a current 29 gal. setup. I will be transfering this lighting over to a 75 gal in about a year.

 

How much wattage should I be using? Is too much light bad for the fish?

 

Right now I have a tank that has been setup for about 3.5 months. I have 25lbs of LR, 40Lbs LS a yellow tang (DONT WORRY I am giving him to the LFS soon), a procipine puffer and a little dottyback. I also have 2 conch snails, 4 algae snails, 4 hermit crabs.

 

RIght now I have the hood that came with the tank (the normal single light black hoods you know what I am talking about) I am still using the same bulb that came with it (that is some measly 20W light).

 

I was looking at this setup http://www.hellolights.com/4x55wretrofit.html

 

Would that be too much light in my 29 gal? Would it be just right for my 75 gal?

 

Or how about this one http://www.hellolights.com/2x55wretrofit.html

 

Would that second one be adiquite for my 75 gal?

 

What is the most important thing when it comes to lighting?

 

Oh man all this is so damn confusing sometimes. ???

[SLOreefer]

ok fisrt of all if you want a reef get rid of the puffer. he doesnt mesh well. the 4x55 watt light is great for the 29 and would be minimal for the 75. its not a bad setup as you can add more to the 75 if you want. many people have up to 400watt halides over 20 gallon tanks so you dont reall yneed to worry about over lighting your tank with pcs....i dont think you can really hurt anything with that amount of light on that size tank.

[Physh1]

Ok....a generic "rule of thumb" is 3-5 watts per gallon for a reef type tank. You will see many people with less and many with more. The key here is finding out what kind of corals and critters you want to keep and them buy lighting that is suitable for your critters and your wallet.

 

For instance....if you want to keep low light critters like mushrooms, polyps, and leather corals the 2x55 would be fine for the 29. More to a point is better so if you had money for a metal halide setup than you could buy it but if your on a budget a metal halide system is far from necessary.

 

If you'd like to keep LPS, leathers, candy cane, etc, than a higher output system like the 4x55 would be more ideal. You also have to consider room here and cooling. 4x55 could get kinda hot on a 29 so a cooling fan or 2 would be great.

 

4x55 is a base lighting for a 75 that could be reefbound.

 

You should move/trade in that puffer if your going for a reef....they generally can be a little fiesty with crabs and inverts sometimes.

 

If you can narrow down your expectations here we can help you chose an ideal kit.

 

Cameron

[Pikelet]

I have 2 x 55PC + 20W NO actinic over my 29g tank. That is enough light to bleach my purple shrooms and stop my other shrooms from expanding even though they are low in the tank. I had to move all of my shrooms under ledges with that amount of light. Xenia and zoanthids seem very happy with 2 x 55W PC's.

 

Now .... if you want to do SPS, I would forget the 4 x 55W PC's and go straight for a 175W 10K Ushio MH + the new T5 style actinic tubes, if you can find them. Whatever you choice, you'll need to do something about the heat.

[HuBu]

i have a 29 gal tank with 2 175W MH on it. you should really invest in the lighting system you put on your tank, dont think going cheap is better because it will cost your more in the end.