Too much lighting?-Reef Lighting - Page 4-3reef Forums

kedron · 09-23-2007, 02:53 PM

I Have The Odyssea 48" With 2 250 Watt Mh And 4 65 Watt Actinic Wich Is 760 Watts Is That Too Much For A 55 Gal, Reef That Is About 13.8 Watts Per Gall

lunatik_69 · 09-23-2007, 05:07 PM

The general rule of thumb is 4-5 watts per gal for regular corals and 8-9 watts per gal for stonies and clams. I also have the odyssea 48" 2-250 watt mh and 2-96 watt actinics on a 90 gal. I think your set up maybe a over kill. you might get away with it if your placement of corals is right.

kedron · 09-23-2007, 06:15 PM

if i have 13.8 watts per gallon say 760 on a 55 gal, aquarium will i have any problems with too much lighting or will suspending the lighting higher away from the tank help with less light penatration or is this setup overkill can someone help me with this please

lunatik_69 · 09-23-2007, 06:21 PM

What do you have in your tank right now? As in fish,corals....etc

geekdafied · 09-23-2007, 06:54 PM

Assuming you have a 4" sand bed, that makes your tank realistically a 44g, cause it is no longer 21"s tall with a 4" sandbed. So that gives you 17wpg. If you want to get more indepth, the top half of your tank would be 22g which puts it at 34wpg. This is why the whole wpg ratio's are out dated.

david7700 · 11-13-2007, 07:58 PM

I decided to go with MH for... the price! It would be hard to beat it, I only paid 125 + ~30 for the box, so thats 155$ for 400W of lighting power. I custom-built a 15" high canopy to house it, and it still needs cooling fans and a few screws, but I saved quite a bit of $ by doing the DIY way. Some people probably do not prefer the huge canopy, but since I only have a 29g, I wanted to raise it as high as possible. So far my Kenya tree coral loves it..

Bruce · 11-13-2007, 10:49 PM

A 4xbulb T-5HO setup would be perfect. I have a T-5HO Tek 5 bulb system. Like stated already this company does not incorporate moon lights into the fixture. But really, there are plenty of 3rd party moonlight systems. I have one that actually mimics the cycle of the moon. Pretty cool! Check out my photos to see how the lights look.

MILLERTIME · 11-14-2007, 01:01 AM

they make t5's with moonlights?

reefersRus · 04-09-2008, 09:15 PM

This thread may be outdated. However, I just wanted to let you know that the Sundial T5 comes with built in timers, rear facing fans, 4 bulbs and 4 lunar lights. And it can be used in a canopy (most brands tell you not to).