is my light big enough

subparracer

right now I have some kind of factory lights. I have a friend that told me to put tin foil on the inside on my light around the bulb to have enough light to keep a anemone. but now i would like to go to corals. What I really want to ask is is the 48 inch Current USA 6x54W Nova Extreme Pro T5HO 3-10k/3-460nm Actinics a bigg enough light for them
or if there is any other light that will still keep corals that are cheaper
any info will help thank you

Reefing Madness

Nice choice, really nice choice. Cheaper light out there, yes there is. You can go with a 4 bulb unit, and use 3 white lamps and only one actinic. The factory flourescent lighting is not good enough for anything but looking at the fish. That light will cover you for any coral your looking at getting. Figuring that your tank is not 36" deep, but the normal 18-24" deep.
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subparracer

i got the marine land single led lighting system instead because the corals i wanted didn't need as much light as i thought

jeffnsa

Always get a better lighting system than you currently need. Corals are an addiction and you will need to replace your current set up with a newer one when you want the more expensive corals (and you will).

reefsahoy

that depends on quite a few things.
1 how deep is your tank
2. what kind of corals are you planning on keeping
3. what is the dimentions of your tank?


the more t5 bulbs you use the more selection you will have for color renditioning. personally, if i used 6 t5's. i wouldn't even use one white bulb in the fixture. id' go with fiji purple, and blue blubs. your colors will pop! i've used t5's before and with 3 blues and 1 purple it's possible to get colors like what i had in my aquarium video. if you choose to go with sps you will need very good equipment.

Reefing Madness

And you kept corals with absolutely no PAR in that set up?? He's talkin about keeping an Anemone, and you would advise not using one white lamp??? Where is he going to get the light from then??

jeffnsa

When you mention blue and purple bulbs could you be more specific which kelvin rating you are talking about? Some consider 10k-12k blue bulbs along with a figi purple which is 20k. Two 20k on the outside edges followed by two 12k and then two 10k bulbs in the center would be alright but maybe a too blue for my taste. Check out hellolights.com for a great bulb selection and lighting setups, I have used and others that I know have used them in the past with no problems.

reefsahoy

T5's give tons of par! I've definitely kept corals with fiji purple and ati Blue plus, or gieseman atinic plus and i was keeping light demanding sps too. I had 6 t5s on a 26 inch deep tank at the time but kept most of the sps at around 24inches and higher in the tank. Im positive the anemone would get enough par assuming his tank isnt too deep. The aqua blue special give about the same as the ge 65k bulb and its sure prettier than a yellow light especially looking at corals, clams and anemones.

These are some par readings from different manufacturer.
Please note that these measurements were made by a highly respected reefer using his Tek fixture and 54 Watt bulbs. If you use a lower quality fixture you can expect less par. Likewise if you use like a ati fixture you'd expect alittle better par readings


Aquascience Special:
15K 320*
DUO 15K 334*
22000K Blue 302*


AquaZ:
Sun Pro 285
Ocean Pro 323
Blue Pro 266


ATI:
Sun Pro 357
Aquablue 336
Blue Plus 311
Actinic 137 (Old Style)
Pro Color 215 vs 300 for a UVL Aquasun in a later test


Current Sun Paq:
Daylight 10K 272
Blue 252


D&D/Giesemann:
Midday 325
Aquablue 324
Actinic Plus 264
Pure Actinic 157


General Electric:
GE Daylight 340
GE3000 319*


Helios:
Daylight 309
Super Blue 225


KZ:
Coral Light 342*
Fiji Purple 330*


UVL:
Aqua sun 345
Actinic White 293
Super Actinic 210
75/25 "Aquablue" 254 vs 300 for an Aquasun in a later test.

As you can see the ati aqua blue is giving out more par than the ge daylight bulb and it sure is alot nicer for color renditioning.

Reefing Madness

samsreef.com - PAR readings - How much light?

http://successfulreefkeeping.com/lea...r-coral-needs/

reefsahoy

That was par per bulb, so pick 6 and then that would be par total. So if he picked 300 par bulb x 6 that would be 1800 par