Anyone else use this lighting system?

[Badkharma]

First of all, I'm glad I found these forums! There is a lot of useful information here, and a great bunch of people!
Now, I've had my 65 gallon tank set up now since September and it is going well. I have about 2 inches of aragonite (caribsea), about 60 lbs of LR (both Fiji and Marshall Island), both a canister filter (FilStar XP2) and an emperor 400 for filtration, among other things (powerheads, etc). I am getting a protein skimmer for Christmas. I'll probably get an AquaC Remora Pro or something like that. Anyway, I just got a lighting system, and I was wondering if anyone else uses it here. So far on some other forums, I have not ran into anyone with it. If you do have it, how do you like it? The system is a JBJ Formosa SS PL-JD2-42/10K. It's 130 watts, with 2 combo compact bulbs, one blue, one white at 10K. I don't know if this is allowed to be posted or not, but here are more details: http://www.jbjlighting.com/sys_formosa_ss_jd2.html

My whole point is that I have never kept any corals or anything, and was wondering if this lighting would be sufficient. My tank is once again, 65 gallon acrylic, measuring 48lx15wx18h. By the way, I currently have a perc clown, 4-stripe damsel, spanish hogfish (going to sell soon), juv. sailfin tang (yes I know how big they get ), cleaner shrimp, and obviously the snails and hermits. I wish I had a digi. cam to post a pic. I'll now end this endless essay, most of which was pointless.

 

[radcast2]

Never used it but IMO with a 65g tank you will only be able to keep things such as....Sun Polyps, mushrooms, a few leathers. Not much with that big of a tank.
I myself have 220w VHO on a 55g and that is just enough to keep what I have in my tank......No clams, acroporia, like I want, not till i get MH anyways.

 

[Badkharma]

Awesome. Thanks for the heads up. Will it be sufficient for some anemones (possibly some carpet anemones for perc clown...)?

 

[radcast2]

Sorry but no you will have to get more lighting. A BTA might be okay in your tank with 220w but I would try to get at least 300w over you tank.

 

[Cabreradavid]

Before considering the purchase of an host anemone, I would look through the anemone threads to make sure you know what you are getting into. Some are harder to keep than most corals (long term). Most also need strong lighting and regular feeding. If you do decide to say get a BTA, it appears that cloned ones do far better than anything taken from the wild (not to mention this is a more eco-friendly option).

 

[justmiles]

I would suggest looking for a fixture that will take either 2 or 4 96 watt power compacts. I myself have a 29G tank with 2 65W power compacts bulbs. Try something more like this 4 96 watt unit... http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... uct=CL2321 ... or this 4 65 watt unit ... http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... uct=CL2319

 

[Len]

Ya, I agree with everyone's sound advice about needing more lighting if you want to keep a broader range of photosynthetic critters. 2 or 4 96W PCs would work great, and metal halides (2x150W or 250W double-ended bulbs) would be even better if you have have space on top of your tank.

Oh, don't worry about posting links to products. We have very little rules about what can't be posted We don't allow commercial posts (for example, vendors coming in here posting "Sale" annoucements) because we don't want our forums cluttered with advertisments But if you're just a hobbyist, you really have little to be concerned about

 

[Badkharma]

Thanks for the replies! I'm quite comfortable with a FOWLR setup, but want to eventually expand into a reef setup, so good lighting I know is a must. I just have no experience with corals, etc, so I'm glad for the responses (and warm welcomes).

 

[tikki50]

well that makes me wonder if Im under powered now. I have a 42 gallon with compacts 192w. I figured that would be suffient for a tank this size. Will I have to add more later down the road or just make sure the corals that need that kinda of high intenisty are at the top.

Thanks
Todd

 

[Len]

Todd,

2x96W over a 40 gallon will be sufficient for most corals and photosyntheic inverts in my experience. You might not be able to keep certain SPS corals, but you'll be fine with the vast majority of availble livestock.

In comparision, the JBJ is only 2x65W over a 65 gallon tank, which is significantly lower then your 2x96W over a smaller tank.

 

[Keith Hill]

I have a 75 gal w/ JBJ DX-JG3 lighting. As for the lights, they look great, are quiet, and really light up my tank. I recently experienced a massive algae bloom and was told the lights may be ruuning too long. I leave them on approximately 12 hours w/ 10 using both the blues and whites. I xan defintely recommend the JBJ lights but suggest moving up and get more lighting. Just make sur you don't overdo it.