Light for 40 cm deep

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lappiesreef

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Hi Guys

Hope all are having a blue free (accept for your actinics) Monday,

I need some advice concenrning the lighting of my tank.

The tank will be about 40 cm deep.

As a start I'll go for LRWFO for a while just to get my fingers salty. Then I'd like to upgrade to a few corals. Probably star polyps and shrooms. Don't think I'll be ready for any stoney's before a year or two of building experience.

What type of lighting should I go for?

If you could also give me some indication of price for every option that would be appreciated. I've seen a big variation in price all over and want to be sure of the expected range...:p
 
lappiesreef said:
Hi Guys

Hope all are having a blue free (accept for your actinics) Monday,

I need some advice concenrning the lighting of my tank.

The tank will be about 40 cm deep.

As a start I'll go for LRWFO for a while just to get my fingers salty. Then I'd like to upgrade to a few corals. Probably star polyps and shrooms. Don't think I'll be ready for any stoney's before a year or two of building experience.

What type of lighting should I go for?

If you could also give me some indication of price for every option that would be appreciated. I've seen a big variation in price all over and want to be sure of the expected range...:p
Click to expand...

Go with T-5's (blue and white) and when you go SPS, upgrade to metal halides
 
Hi Lappies - you well?

The most flexible lighting you could go for, even with a tank as shallow as 40cm, would be T5's. Depending on the length of the tank, I would say either a few 39watts or 54watts. With quite a few T5's you could even keep SPS.

Ask Kanga - he keeps SPS with T5's - and so do many other people....

Pricing depends on whether you go for a pre-built unit, or DIT reflectors/ballast/fittings.... Pre-built - anything between R1000 and R2000 per unit (between 2 and 4 globes per unit).

DIY - you can go up to as much as the width of your tank / hood allows....
Cost per globe/reflector/ballast:+-R250/300 per globe/ballast/reflector...
 
Don't you think MH is to strong for 40 cm? Afterall if the corals are placed toward the top they will only be liek 5-10cm from the surface...

I'm scared of burning the poor things...

Is normal Fluorescents a possibility? the 10 000K ones?
Perhaps a "sun" and blue?
 
Fine thanks J

A LFS close to me said R750 for T5 with one white and one blue.
Would that be O.K. for starters?

Does the T5's give off allot fo heat like MH?

Which corals would you reccommend for a beginner?
 
Hi Lappies - that unit will be PERFECT to start off with. Corals to start with:
- zoanthids
- leather corals
- mushroom corals (corralimorphs/rhodactis)

And - yes - Warr - I think too that MH might JUST be too strong for 40cm.... Perhaps just a wee bit ;-)
 
T5 give of much less heat, light distribution is more even and your power bill is gentler:D

and for start polyps and shrooms you should be fine maybe upgrade to a second and at 49cm you will be able to keep most things except for the most light loving creatures
 
Awesome guys

Now I can't wait for them to finish.

I'll document the whole tank as I build it up and make a little thread for it :biggrin:

ANother quick quesiton (Maybe I shoudl consider changeing my name to MR 20 Questions)
Where do I find those nice PVC piping and elbows I see everyone use?
I went to Builders wharehouse, but couldn't find anyting smaller than a drain pype...
 
lappiesreef said:
Awesome guys

Now I can't wait for them to finish.

I'll document the whole tank as I build it up and make a little thread for it :biggrin:

ANother quick quesiton (Maybe I shoudl consider changeing my name to MR 20 Questions)
Where do I find those nice PVC piping and elbows I see everyone use?
I went to Builders wharehouse, but couldn't find anyting smaller than a drain pype...
Click to expand...

:lol: ask away as many questions as you like

OK try an irrigation place like rainbird or so. Have a look here

Where to get stuff - Marine Aquariums of South Africa
 
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yes the guys are right.t5s will work well.personally im not a huge fan of t5s other than the KZ fiji purple.if it was me i would go for 150w 14k MH's about 20cm above the water level ;)
 
once you go MH you will never look back IMO...

The look you get is just so much more natural than with T5's... Not to mention you will not be limitied to the species you may want to keep in the tank at a later stage... my SPS love it and are only about 10-5 cm below, and the clams are smiling all they...

The softies are not complaing either...
 
Mekaeel said:
yes the guys are right.t5s will work well.personally im not a huge fan of t5s other than the KZ fiji purple.if it was me i would go for 150w 14k MH's about 20cm above the water level ;)
Click to expand...

highfive said:
once you go MH you will never look back IMO...

The look you get is just so much more natural than with T5's... Not to mention you will not be limitied to the species you may want to keep in the tank at a later stage... my SPS love it and are only about 10-5 cm below, and the clams are smiling all they...

The softies are not complaing either...
Click to expand...

Oh ye gentleman of little faith, have a look at some of the tanks i this thread, all only T5:biggrin: Reef Central T5 Only
 
Kanga said:
Oh ye gentleman of little faith, have a look at some of the tanks i this thread, all only T5:biggrin: Reef Central T5 Only
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no doubt.most of the tanks running on t5s look stunning,dont get me wrong its just that effect that MH's give off looks just to good IMO ;)
 
T5 give of much less heat, light distribution is more even and your power bill is
Click to expand...
Not quite. They do give off the same heat, watt. BUT they do generate more light for the same wattage, so Kanga you are not completely wrong..... :lol:
(referring to decent brands like ati or gieseman here)

For your intended purposes, I would advise the following:
2 x T5, both in the 10k Kelvin to 14k Kelvin range (white)
1 x normal output flourescent, actinic or blue. This will help you to simulate the dusk till dawn effect (normal output on before and off after the T5's), as you will more than likely run the two T5 off a double electronic ballast.
The above lighting regime will be sufficient for even sps corals, if they are placed high up in the aquarium.
The most important thing with T5 lamps is that they are housed in DECENT reflectors!!
(Actually, any lamp used in an aquarium)
Once the sps bug really bites you, you can add another 2 T5 to really pop colours.
 
irie ivan said:
Not quite. They do give off the same heat, watt. BUT they do generate more light for the same wattage, so Kanga you are not completely wrong..... :lol:
(referring to decent brands like ati or gieseman here)
Click to expand...

My humbles apologies:whistling: Thanks for a great post Ivan:thumbup:
 
shan said:
ok maybe i missed it but what are the tank dimensions?
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hey Shan

The tank will be a 4FT L tank 40 cm deep. Rather shallow I know...
The tank will have a 3FT L sump underneath. I am now pondering to add another 3ft along side it as fuge where all the phyto can escape the damage of the pumps.
For this one, water will be pumped from hte main into the 3FT fuge and then return to the main via gravity flow. Perhaps this will enable be to keep a manderin :p
 
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