Low, moderate or high lighting?

[Berger9953]

I always thought I had moderate lighting, but I'm not exactly sure what I'm able to keep and my limitations. On my 20g nano, I have a 24" 2x24watt t5ho one actinic and one 10k bulb with individual reflectors on both. Its a current usa model and only a 2-3 months old. Thanks!

[jgf86123]

You are probably running between low and moderate lighting over your 20g.

[Berger9953]

oh darnit, I wanted to keep sps, so probably birdsnest would be the only kind right? no monitpora and acropora right?

[reefnjunkie]

You are probably running between low and moderate lighting over your 20g.

 

Moderate at best-a little over 2 watts per gallon and the T5 does not penetrate deeply like a MH-perfect for softies and some LPS-MAYBE SPS-if it is 2-3 inches from the surface-IME

Plus the Actinic is not really a light for growth-someone please correct me if I am wrong

I have a standard 20 gallon roughly 24 wide 17 tall 12 deep-I have 4 24watt T5's 1-12K, 1-14K and 2 actinics , I consider mine to be low to moderate-I would not add a clam or any SPS unless I had it within 6 inches from the top.

 

Anybody have a PAR meter in your neck of the woods that you can see how strong the different levels are?

 

I think the club bought one for its members to borrow if you are a member. Look into it-if you want

[Berger9953]

Moderate at best-a little over 2 watts per gallon and the T5 does not penetrate deeply like a MH-perfect for softies and some LPS-MAYBE SPS-if it is 2-3 inches from the surface-IME

Plus the Actinic is not really a light for growth-someone please correct me if I am wrong

I have a standard 20 gallon roughly 24 wide 17 tall 12 deep-I have 4 24watt T5's 1-12K, 1-14K and 2 actinics , I consider mine to be low to moderate-I would not add a clam or any SPS unless I had it within 6 inches from the top.

 

Anybody have a PAR meter in your neck of the woods that you can see how strong the different levels are?

 

I think the club bought one for its members to borrow if you are a member. Look into it-if you want

 

Thanks for the feedback...What is PAR anyway?? I thought actinic was a growth bulb, beause the blue spectrum penetrates deeper than the white. I thought anyway....I'll try a common pink birdsnest and see how it goes right under the surface.

[reefnjunkie]

oh darnit' date=' I wanted to keep sps, so probably birdsnest would be the only kind right? no monitpora and acropora right?[/quote']

 

google PAR meter, it'll be easier-

 

Actinic info-as I understand not coral growth;

In nature, blue light travels deeper into the water than does the other colors in the light spectrum, such as reds, yellows, and greens. Actinic bulbs produce only the blue end of the light spectrum. Actinic bulbs are recommended for deep water invertebrates, and fish that don't like bright light, such as African Cichlids. Actinic blue bulbs are normally used in combination with other broader spectrum (5,000°K-10,000°K) bulbs. They can also be used to simulate dusk and dawn in your aquarium, providing your aquarium inhabitants with more realistic sunrise and sunset conditions.

You can try it-again at the top though-I dont think you have the lights for them to thrive-survive perhaps.

 

I started the same way-24 gallon stock nano, 1 24 watt 10K and 1 actinic. Then I upgraded to a 6 bulb T5.

Then added a 400 GPH return pump instead of the stock one-more flow.

Added a koralia 1 instead of the nano.

Add the remora HOB skimmer which all the extra gear drove up the heat

so I got a 1/10 hp chiller-knowing i could keep it IF I ever wanted to upgrade.

 

Well with the small water volume its tough (for me it was) to keep everything real stable-with water evaporation-not having an auto top off.

 

So the next month I upgrade to an 80 gallon w/MH and on and on...

 

 

Just start saving now-its gonna happen

[Berger9953]

Wow, your a busy guy(or girl)...If I put them near the top, won't they reach the surface and not be totally submerged by water? ANd what about wc's? It'll be completely out of the water....It would stress it alot. And what's PAR?

[reefnjunkie]

Wow' date=' your a busy guy(or girl)...If I put them near the top, won't they reach the surface and not be totally submerged by water? ANd what about wc's? It'll be completely out of the water....It would stress it alot. And what's PAR?[/quote']

 

Guy here-LOL

 

That was NOv. The 80 gallon came in december, I sold it and went glass 75 gallon in FEB-now I'm done-not by choice, I should have got the 90 gallon.

 

Google PAR

 

I dont know what you are meaning, if you put what towards the top-I never meant for anything to be out of the water-(nono)

 

2-6 inches below the surface

[Berger9953]

sorry, posted b4 you edited. It sounds to me its just the measuring of the intensity...

[Berger9953]

Guy here-LOL

 

That was NOv. The 80 gallon came in december, I sold it and went glass 75 gallon in FEB-now I'm done-not by choice, I should have got the 90 gallon.

 

Google PAR

 

I dont know what you are meaning, if you put what towards the top-I never meant for anything to be out of the water-(nono)

 

2-6 inches below the surface

 

Should have been more specific, if I place a sps coral(branching for example) near the surface then when the water level drops or it grows to high, the air will penetrate it.

[dsoz]

PAR = potosynthetic active radiation. Just having bright lights is not enough. It has to be the right "color" or wavelength for photosynthesis. Actinic makes the corals look cool (glowing fluorescent colors), but does nothing for PAR.

 

With only one "white" T5 light, you are on the low side. You may be able to keep up to some montipora, but no birdsnest.

 

dsoz

[grassi]

You are in the moderate range. With a 4x24 you could keep a lot more.

T5 are a good lighting source and you can even keep clams on the sandbed with 4 bulbs with individual reflectors.

The most beautiful and fast growing tanks I have ever seen are T5 only. The problem is to find the right color balance.

I tested it myself for about 9 months on my tank. With T5 I've seen a great grow rate of sps, and I was also able to keep clams on the sandbed. I was running a 6500 and the rest were actinics and one 75/25

[Berger9953]

dsoz, what is there besides white and blue bulbs? Or are you refering to MH?

[dsoz]

dsoz' date=' what is there besides white and blue bulbs? Or are you refering to MH?[/quote']

 

There are several different brands/colors/types of T5 lights. They come all the way from 6500K (color of natural sunlight) to 400 nm (really fluorescent actinic like a black light)

 

If you want good growth, go with more bulbs that are 10k range. If you want better color "pop" with the fluorescent, include different actinics.

 

On ReefCentral, there are several threads about T5 lighting, and the "expert" is called (I think) "GrimReefer"

 

I have a 6x54w T5 light over my main tank (standard AGA 75g). I have more of the 10k lights. I get sort of good growth, but not anything spectacular. If I had the $$$ I would switch to 2x250w HQI or even 2x400w with electronic ballasts and have 20k bulbs. I can handle having a little less growth in order to get better coloration.

 

dsoz

[reefnjunkie]

it is the "grimreefer" and you tell him what you are wanting to do and the light fixture you have (# of bulbs) and he will tell what he believes is best-

There are T5 bulbs from 10K-22K if you search hard enough.

The lower the Kelvin rating the better growth but more of a yellow look.

I have 1 pure actinic 420nm and a 10K,12K and 18K-but I swapped out the 18K so I am running 2 420nm.

 

So many bulbs, so many configs.

 

Good luck.

 

I'd start saving for the next set up too-(laugh)

[Berger9953]

This grimreefer, yes, what is his charge? jk. Do I have to become a member to talk to him?

[dsoz]

Just find a thread where he is talking about lights, then make a post about what you have and what you want. He usually responds within a few days. There are at least 3 or 4 different threads, and usually they get so long that they split them after XXX number of posts (that is why there are 3, 4 or more by now)... I read for about 30 minutes before I gave up because it was mostly more of the same... I have X fixture, what bulbs should I have??? Reply: use g bulb in front, then h, i, j, and put k in the back... it got booooooooring really quick.

 

You need to "sign up" at reefcentral, but you don't need to be a paid member to make a post. You only need to pay to use the search engine (among other things).

 

dsoz

[undrtkr_00]

Here is Grim's homepage - TONS of stuff on different bulb temperatures, manufacturers, color combinations, etc.

 

http://home.comcast.net/~stevelarsen00/site/?/home/

 

For you, spend a few minutes reviewing the "T5 Basics" link before moving on. Good stuff.

[Berger9953]

Thanks for the link and advice. But last night I signed up at reefcentral and pm'd him. I'll still read a ton though..Thanks! Please feel free to comment or post your opinions if you have anymore about the thread.

[jackaninny]

Check out this link (section 4 specifically) for a quick 10 minutes brain dump on tank lighting basics

 

Let there be light

[Berger9953]

Thanks for the link, I learned ALOT(clap)