Lets talk about lighting

[Redwinger]

Alright in order to build the knowledge base for future reefers lets get into the thick of it.

Lets talk about lighting in a Reef tank. I know it has been gone over again and again. Lets start with the different types of lighting.

1.NO fluorescent
2. VHO fluorescent
3. Compact Fluorescent
4. T-5
5. Metal halide
6. High pressure Sodium
7. LED

Lets get into the basics of what can be kept under certain lighting and what can't. What does well and what doesn't.

Color spectrum's and the relation to coral fluorescence
PAR
electricity consumption between the different systems.

[mtfatwork]

what can be kept-

1 No flourescent- basically best for fowler systems. Can support mushrooms, and some non photosynthetic corals such as gorgonians and low light creatures like sponges.

2 VHO- most lps, soft corals, and some montipora species.

3 CF- pretty much same as above

4 T5- all of the above plus clams and acropora species as long as they are placed high enough in the tank. A side note is that some LPS do not do so well under T5 lighting.

5 MH- My favorite, nice shimmer effect in the tank, you can keep pretty much all corals, but some of the lower light species need to be shielded from direct lighting.

6&7 I dont know much about :)

[wes]

how about halogen? I've read the japanese love to use them. They seem like they'd be super hot, really yellow and rather inefficient to me, but I don't know squat. I do know enough not to ask why incandesent isn't included in the list... :smile:

[morty]

I'd think that high pressure sodium is way too red -- only good for the pot farmers. :laugh: Might want to add incandescent (rare but I've heard of people using it to light their 'fuges) and natural sunlight (again rare unless you're able to set up your tank in some kind of solarium). Natural sunlight in a greenhouse is also the preferred choice for coral farmers, if you're in the right climate I think it's cheapest and most healthy.

I've heard of people using VHO, PC, or T5 with no MH and keeping perfectly healthy SPS tanks...

I've also heard that if the right kind of ballasts are used (Icecap) that NO flourescent bulbs get overdriven and work almost as well as VHOs, without the replacement costs. Is this just a rumor?

[Zekester]

I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with T5s on the 180
Cost and cost are my reasons

[johnzillmer]

I've been overdriving 2 of my 4 32-watt T-8s for a while now, using a non-Icecap ballast. Not all ballasts can do this, but it need not be an I$ecap (it is just a regular electronic ballast from Menards). Working great -- much brighter than the regular NOs. Check out this article:

http://www.geocities.com/teeley2/overdrv1.html

[Loralie]

I have had pretty decent sucess growing acro, pocillipora, and montipora under VHO. Also my derasa, and crocea have been under VHO for almost a year before adding Halides. The pocillipora must have been on a piece of LR I bought from Skip over a year ago. It was literally a speck I just happened to see. Now it is the size of a half dollar. The acro species unknown was brown and given to me at Smeese's last meeting by Boker. It encrusted and has grown very well and did color up. And the monti, came from Zekster at Fosters and was about 1'2 or so on a frag disk. This thing has grown to over 6" across ...really cool

[Loralie]

Also I have a ton of natural south and east sunlight, I wonder what the growth would be if I set my 92 gallon back up in that room as a frag tank, just as an experiment..???? Get a couple of acro frags and just see how it would grow in natural light. That might be an idea. anyone got a skimmer laying around???