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110 watts of PC on a 5 1/2 gallon tank??


GobyMan

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Ok, so I got a great deal on a PC hood 2 x 55 Watts that I can use over my 5 1/2 gallon.  Is this too much?  Right now I have 2 x 9 watts with some green star polyps, some green and red mushrooms, some button polyps and some galaxea.  Assorted janitors, a tiny green bar goby and a peppermint shrimp.  IF this is not too much light, what can I do to acclimate my corals?  With the GSP and button polyps, I can't really move them as I used epoxy to stick them on the reef structure.  Any help/advice would be appreciated.

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If I were you....   I would upgrade my tank based on my lighting.  The light would probably be going to waste on that small tank because the cool stuff that you can keep with higher lighting will not fit into a little 5 gallon.

 

what costs more?   110 watt lights or a glass aquarium at a garage sale?  You have the expensive part.  Get the rest to match.

 

(Edited by Korbin at 3:17 pm on July 5, 2002)

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NanoReefer53

well if u try to put on 2x55 on a 5.5g, you're loosing 8" from each bulb. Working that out with the percentage of the bulb and estimating that there's an even amount of wattage throughout the bulb, you're only gettin about 36.3 watts from each of the bulbs. Why not just go with 2x28 ?

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I'm actually have a couple larger tanks but can't set them up now due to space concerns (fiancee doesn't want a large one til we upgrade from our apartment to a house)  The "hood" has adjustable brackets that can be slid.  I can get it on my 5 1/2 or anything up to a 20 high I'm thinking.  So I could just hold off on using the lights now but I figured I had them, why not use them...

 

Unless it will hurt the inhabitants of my tank.....

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NanoReefer53

it wouldn't hurt them to have more light, heck, i've seen a 400w MH on a 7g before. The only thing is that u have to aclimate them to the more intense lighting since u have them under 2x9 right now. Lower the photoperiod time and gradually increase it to the normal time.

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NaNO ReeFiN

You should just save the lights for your larger tank until you move into a house. The lighting you have on your tank now seems fine.

 

(Edited by NaNO ReeFiN at 12:39 pm on July 5, 2002)

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Excellent....With this new lighting I should be able to keep the more light loving species now?  And possibly a small clam?

 

Or...what about just using one of the bulbs, say put a 55 watt smart light in there?  Would I be better off than with the 2 x 9 watt?  

 

Sorry for all the questions, I know my little tank would run fine with the lighting I have, (in my experience) just would like to utilize this new toy...

 

 

 

(Edited by GobyMan at 3:45 pm on July 5, 2002)

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Well, I wouldn't use both hoods, just the new one.  It is raised about 3 inches off the tank and has a fan built into the unit.  My tank temp stays between 75 and 78 degrees right now.

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i think this was on another board gobyman.  i answered there but i'll out here too if that's ok.

 

2x55w is a lot but i think you can do it.  i have 2x32w in a 5.5-gal and i think it's a bit low still (for my livestock, for low light creatures it's blazing).  the issue is acclimating your tank from 2x9w to the 2x55w without freaking everything out and having them expel all the 'unnecessary symbiont algae' due to this greater light source.

 

increase the height of the hood to match the light output of the 2x9w.  i mentioned in the other post don't forget to take into account the inverse square function of light radiance to take into account (twice as far away = one fourth the light received).  then week by week i'd lower the hood into place until it's back to the original 2x9w.  equatorial sunlight is amazingly bright so short of putting a 175w mh over your nano i'd think it's ok.

 

i run a fan just about 24/7 from april to october due to the temps.  good luck!

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Well, now I don't know what I should do!  I guess I would need to figure out how to get the lights that high, suspend them from the ceiling somehow I guess.  I may just bag this fixture and step up from my 2 x 9 watts to a 2 x 28 or 2 x 32....I just need to figure out how to do that with my hood.  Did you get the retrofit and just mount in inside a hood, or did you get the actual hood?  I saw the hood from CSL 2 x 32 today and it is actually too small for the 5 1/2 gallon top opening...

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yeah, i used csl's 2x32w and offset it slightly to account for the lack of light on the socket side.  they would have been better designed as opposing bulbs to provide even coverage.  that's one of the reasons i'm kicking myself for not going icecaps.  i got sucked into a sale price :(  sorry for muddling the issue.

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How would you do Icecaps for a 5 1/2?  I have an icecap ballast that I used to use for my 29, it was set up with a dimmer/cloud simulator...could I use that?  Or are you talking about something else?

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I'm with chris. Too much light, corals will burn, no coraline. I have 32 watts over a 5g and I feel its on the to intence side, on the other hand, if your going to trade in the softies and the LPS for SPS, that will work if you can keep a constant temp.

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NanoReefer53

They don't make VHO bulbs under 18"s so the icecap would be useless unless u wanted to overdrive N.O bulbs. Even better, sell the ballast for around $100-150 depending on model number and buy a good PC fixture that fits your tank.

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use the 18" that nanoreefin's talking about.  if you already got the ballast and dimmer all the better (lucky little @#$%).  

 

you want to overshoot the sides to take into account you're losing the very tips.  i'm using the 2x32w right now and it's a bit short imo.  if you buy the icecaps i'll gladly trade ;)

 

mr. spam's correct about the coralline though.  it's a trade off for the larger animals though in my opinion.

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I currently have 2x55w Pc's over my seven gallon bow and I still need a heater to keep me up to 82F.

I Hung the pendant from the cieling its about 1" from the top of the water. I got corraline and softies(only 1 monti digitata for SPS) everyone is fat and happy. I really am striving for a 150W mh but I got other projects first.

HTH,

Toy

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rhinoivory

LOL, thats like 50 watts per gallon, thats crazy!!!!!

 

Maybe you can hang it in a pendant, a metre away from your tank and have a nice acropora colony going! :) hehehe, but it will definately kill the corals you have now.

 

Don

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