lighting?

im new to the hobby and wanting to know if 160w in a 8x2x2 is low or moderate lighting?
what types of corals would i be able to keep in these conditions?
can corals adapt to certain lightings?if if it doesnt meet their requirements

 

can you tell me how many gals it is? thanks

 

ok well its around 238 gals..thats about .67 wpg...thats very low for corals...but if 8x2x2 doesnt mean feet and ur talking inchies then...thats alot of light

 

yea its in feet.. so does that mean i cant have any coral?
would i have to upgrade my lighting?
cause im on a low budget, but still wanting to keep some corals..

 

search ebay dennit. sometimes you can find some really good stuff cheap. not to be discouraging but if your tank is 2 feet deep your gonna need metal halides to get penetration near the bottom.

 

I can relate to being on a budget. I say save the money you'd be putting into corals and get at least 2 MH fixtures I think 400watts should be good.

Like billy said, ebay. There's a guy there that sells used ballasts and fixtures for a great price. I got my kit (ballast, fixture, 400W 20K bulb, and reflector) Ready to plug in and go. For $90. Not bad I think.

 

8X2 is a large area. Typically most MH fixtures cover 2X2 so if you wanted any type of coral you would need 4 MH fixtures to cover the entire area
With your current lighting I don't think much of any coral would survive


J

 

i agree with jason about how many metal halides to put in it. my tank is 6ft long and i have 3. it covers it well. you might be able to get away with 3 but 4 would probably be better. 400w ballast and bulbs would work but 250w will work also, thats what i have. i have never owned 400w but i have enough heat problems with the 250's i would think 400's would be worse.

 

I agree with you guys. But we need to take into account that there's a budget to rule by.

So I figure 2 mh's would cover most of it. Then the less lighted areas can be used for lower light corals like shrooms and polyps.

Know what I mean?????

 

absolutely. there is no reason you cant add lights later. i purchased mine a little at a time.