Do I have enough lighting?

[nazzy_016]

I'm fairly new to reef aquariums and i have one 10000K Coralife light with a Coralife Actinic light. I have a 33 gallon tank and are running the lights on two ballasts but was wondering what kind of that that would qualify as...high, moderate, low? any help is appreciated. i would like to get going on soft corals and am wondering if it is ok.

 

[usafresq1]

how many watts are your lights?

 

[Anonymous]

I'm fairly new to reef aquariums and i have one 10000K Coralife light with a Coralife Actinic light. I have a 33 gallon tank and are running the lights on two ballasts but was wondering what kind of that that would qualify as...high, moderate, low? any help is appreciated. i would like to get going on soft corals and am wondering if it is ok.

Sounds like you are running normal output florescent tubes. Should be fine for the hardier softies!

And...


:welcome:

 

[nazzy_016]

how many watts are your lights?

the 10,000K is 20 watts

 

[Anonymous]

Id personally recommend upgrading to a higher source..maybe some PC lights..20W on a 33gal doesnt seem strong enough...you might be ok placing sofites at the very top of your tank

 

[Anonymous]

That is low level lighting. I would look into something with more umph.

 

[Anonymous]

With the lighting you have I would be comfortable with mushrooms. For anything else you will need to upgrade. VHO or PC would be needed for the other softies and LPS. If you want to keep SPS I would recomend Metal Halide. 175watt should be fine on a 30.

 

[WRASSER]

watts are a gage we use to measure light, they are coming out with lights measured in nanometers,any way 2 to 4, or 2 to 7 watts per gallon is what they say you should use. the higher wattaged for calms 8)

 

[ChrisRD]

IMO watts-per-gallon is not a very useful guideline. Think of it this way. If you have a coral sitting under 6" of water in a 10 gallon tank with a 250 watt lamp over it, or you have it sitting under 6" of water in a 100 gallon tank under the same lamp (provided it's mounted at the same height above the water), it's still getting the same amount of light. :wink:

What lighting you choose is ultimately a function of what types of animals you're trying to keep and how far from the lamps they will be.

HTH

 

[Anonymous]

watts are a gage we use to measure light

Not to sound like a smarta$$, but watts is a measure of power not light, thats what makes it inaccurate..Another thing is to reiterate, PC or Normal Output bulbs at the same Wattage rating isnt the same output as a Metal Halide or Mercury Vapor...Its intensity not wattage...