Lights Recommendation

[untouchables]

I know I can probably get THE answer by reading through all the postings here in SRC but I want to know opinions of SRC members.

Background: I have a 3'(L)x2'(W)x1.5(H) tank. Intend to keep LS together with LR, soft corals, mushrooms, etc. Tank is on lower deck of a 2 tier stand so the clearance on top of tank is around 12" max.

Issue: Need to work out the light requirement in terms of Kelvin and lux (more accurate to use Einstein than lux but I will take Lux anytime). I believe Lumens and Watt is secondary as they are indirectly related to the first 2. Once that is done, then find the most appropriate and affortable lights.

Scope: No SPS!

So what is the recommendation from members here?

Hope everyone can contribute. Thanks!

p.s. If anyone is interested in the technical details of your lamp, check it out here LIF

[Morgan]

Squeese as many T5 as possible over the whole cross section of the tank.

[untouchables]

Funny, some sites says should use lumens instead of lux...

My calculations...

Considering that tropical noon on a clear day is 6500-6700 K and wavelength decreases with depth, I probably need ratings of 6500 and above for LPS and soft corals but if I ever want to keep SPS, I will need to add 10000K lights. 6500K will look yellowish so I will need to put in some actinic light to create the blue effect.

Lumens was calculated to be around 36000 lumens for LPS and soft corals. If I want to keep anemones and SPS, I will need at least 48000 lumens.

To meet another rule of thumb, I will need around 5-8 watts per gallon, so total around 325-520 watts.

Since my tank clearance at the top is max 12", I can't possibly put MH and still maintain temp without a chiller, which I do not intend to get so MH is out.

Now I need to work out if I should take PL, FL, T5 or VHO. VHO is probably out since most comments are that it is expensive in the long run and burns out easily.

Any comments?

[bwilly]

basically you confuse ppl with all your jaragons.

u either get a T5 or MH.

T5 will suffice for your requirement.

As for MH, you need a fan to cool your tank, plus frequent top up of water.

You should also be looking at the wattage/intensity. Like that if you compute, you can have a swimming pool size tank, then add all the FL & PL, compare

size to size of a MH wattage, is acceptable liao...?

This is not the way how things are compute..

[untouchables]

basically you confuse ppl with all your jaragons.

u either get a T5 or MH.

T5 will suffice for your requirement.

As for MH, you need a fan to cool your tank, plus frequent top up of water.

You should also be looking at the wattage/intensity. Like that if you compute, you can have a swimming pool size tank, then add all the FL & PL, compare

size to size of a MH wattage, is acceptable liao...?

This is not the way how things are compute..

Thanks for your comments. I wanted to do it the scientific way, which is through calculations and not by experience and judgement although I am seeking all types of comments from SRC members.

You are right, wattage itself is wrong but is considered one of the requirement that must be met. So even if I can get the lights to meet all the calculations but wattage is insufficient, I should not be using it.

[Morgan]

If you don't go for MH...your choice of lighting is limited.

With T5 you can as I say squeeze in more tube than you can do it with PL or FL. This will give you the intensity.

Wattage per gallon rule does not apply for marine reef keeping.

If you have a waterproof lux meter....then measure the intensity of the light at the different depth with different lighting source then you will know what is the best lighting.

[untouchables]

OMG, I think the calculations went wrong somewhere!!! A Philips 6500K T5 39W tube produces 3300 lumens only so I need 11 tubes???

By the way, what is the real difference to a reefer between a DE and SE? Read somewhere that DE comes with built in UV filter so it is better cos the casing need not have UV filter?

[BarraCudaTM]

only SE bulbs come with UV filter

[bwilly]

supposely in the market, recently DE MH bulbs

are UV coated. Not a major worry though, your

glass panel should have some UV filteration.