Looking for Lighting Clarification Please

[dib]

I'm trying to figure out the difference in lighting so I can get the right kind of corals for my tank. When I read about everything, they refer to "low" "medium" and "high" and then I come across one that says this:
Low Light translates to about 30-50 PAR
Medium Light is between 50-150 PAR
High Light is anything over 150 PAR

:help: Can somebody please clarify these terms as to what lights are considered what range. HO, MH, LED, etc.

Thanks a bunch!
dib

 

[joshporksandwich]

What types of coral do you want?

 

[dib]

I have HO T5 lights. Which I think is considered medium. From what I have been reading, I should be OK with Zoas. Since I don't have the funds to upgrade my lights I am trying to find corals that will suit my lights.

 

[Lokipsl]

When using t5s your par results will vary depending on things like tank depth, number of bulbs, bulb choice, and reflector quality on the fixture itself. I have no problem keeping everything in my tank alive and healthy under a 4 bulb current fixture with ati bulbs. My tank is 21" deep. Tell us more about your fixture

 

[Reefing Madness]

Low= Compact Flourescents
Med= T-5. This depending on how many lamps you use also, they can be on the low range of High.
High= Metal Halide and LED

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html

 

[dib]

I have a Zoo Med Aqusun T5 HO fixture with one 10,000k Ocean sun and one Actinic 420 Coral sun bulbs. My tank is a 56 column which is 24" high

 

[Reefing Madness]

Yea, not enough light. Need 4lamp unit at the least, and a 6 lamp unit for SPS or a Nem.
Halides would be the best penetrating light at that depth, LEDs next (depeding on the LED wattage used per LED), then T-5s.

 

[akitareefer]

I would consider your set up low-med lighting. It should support almost anything but sps, but they should be placed higher in the tank. If you want to increase your par research better bulbs such as ati. You could also swap out the 10k for a 6500k bulb to increase par, but the coloring will be more yellow. If you plan on keeping this setup for a while I would suggest upgrading to a 3 or 4 bulb since your tank is pretty deep.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[dib]

So if I want to upgrade my lights to grow some coral but can't quite afford the best, what kind would be a decent upgrade?

 

[Velodog2]

I recommend DIY LED's.

 

[dib]

I recommend DIY LED's.

Any comments on how

 

[Ron Reefman]

Look into OceanRevive, EverGrow or Reef Breeders leds with dimmers. They run from about $140 to $180 depending on which one you buy and from who.

 

[Velodog2]

I used RapidLED. Check their website. They have a pretty decent guide there to tell you how many you need for particular types of coral based on your tank footprint.

 

[dib]

How about the ati bulbs? They look like they would fit my fixture, but are they really much better? Maybe they will get me by until I can upgrade everything.
Thanks

 

[Reefing Madness]

ATI is a fine lamp. But you still only have 2 lamps. You'd be ok with Softies in your tank, but 2 lamps isn't a good choice. How much are we looking at for cost? And what size fixture you needing? What is the length?
Im going to guess 48" with a 56g tank.
T5 Quad 48" Timer 4ft Aquarium Light Hood Marine Reef Coral Cichlid 216W LED Fan | eBay
48" 216W 4X54W T5 HO Aquarium Light Marine Reef Fluorescent Actinic Salt Water | eBay
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48" 216W T5 HO Aquarium Light Hood LCD Timer Coral Reef 4x54 Fluorescent Actinic | eBay

 

[robbrouse]

If it's like the column I had and really glad I was able to seer it.. You will be stuck with 30" lights and Zoo Med and Coral life were the only people I found to make the fixture. I bought the Coral life. It did ok with softies, but that was about it. Could upgrade to an LED set up..

 

[dib]

Look into OceanRevive, EverGrow or Reef Breeders leds with dimmers. They run from about $140 to $180 depending on which one you buy and from who.

That's definitely affordable I will church it out thanks

Yes it is a column and I need 30" hood

 

[Velodog2]

Look into OceanRevive, EverGrow or Reef Breeders leds with dimmers. They run from about $140 to $180 depending on which one you buy and from who.

Those do seem like good values. What's the catch?

 

[dib]

So I'm checking out LEDs. What's better 120w or 165w? Or does it matter. I'm thinking about the evergrow LEDs Light. Any feedback on quality

 

[Lokipsl]

I have a reef breeders 24" photon on a 20 long. So far I am pretty impressed!! Everything is doing good. I slowly acclimated the corals from t5s by only running the LEDs at 15 percent blue 10 percent white for almost 2 weeks. Whenever my rock nem would start to stretch for light I would bump the intensity up. It's been 2 months and I am just now hitting 30 percent blue 25 white. Very powerful lights