Lighting question

[aquaholic]

I just set up my first reef tank, always had salt fish tanks, I bought a light fixture, it has two t5 blue, two white lights, first do i need a MH fixture also, second how should i time the lights, tank has been cycleing for a month, i have a mh light also, but what would the advantage be of using it, plus im sure it will throw off some heat, i dont have a chiller yet, thank you in advance, buy the way this is my first post i joined this site last night, thanks nick:help:

 

[ellebelle]

Your lights depend on what kind of corals (are you planning to keep corals?) you want to keep. Softies can deal with lower light, SPS like higher light. You can find threads with successful SPS tanks with MH, T5s and LED lights.

Your light cycle will also depend on what kind of corals you are keeping. I have always kept mixed reefs, and I ran my lights 7 hours per day, starting around noon.

Unless you have heavy airconditioning in your house, you will want a chiller in the summer regardless of lighting.

 

[knockout]

Hey aquaholic, what are the tank dimensions, you mentioned two white lights, are these t5's also?

+1 on ellebelle comments it all depends which corals you target!

 

[aquaholic]

yes white lights are t5 also, tank is a 120 (48 long 24 deep aproxx25 high)

 

[aquaholic]

i wouldnt want to see a coral and not have good lighting, or not be able to put in a coral because of lighting issues, trying to have whatever i need (lighting)

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Your halides if you use any will take the place of your white(daytime) T5's, you could replace them with 2 more actinics if you use halides but you dont need to run white T5's and halides- just MH and actinics.(and moonglows if you want the tank to glow between your lighting cycle of actinic and daytime bulbs)
I do 8 hours of halides and 10 of actinic to where the actinics go on an hour before the halides and go off an hour after-- my moonglows only go on an hour before my actinics and go off an hour after my actinics go off- by then its 1 in the morning and I'm not lookin at the tank so no need for them.

 

[Imbarrie]

You can use t5 or mh lighting on that tank or both. Mh will pretty much require a chiller but they penetrate deeper into the tank than T5.
Have you considered LED lighting?

People swear by either lighting so the answer to what kind of lighting do you need is very open ended.


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