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Ok, I have seen quite a bit of questions on this topic "how much lighting do I need" with different answers. How about everybody on this site just states their tank size and how much watt's they have on it. Then every body have an idea what to aim at. I know reef and fish only set-ups requirements differ so state that as well. According to the FAQ's a save rule of thumb is 4watts per gal.

Mine is 30gal with 66 watts florescent. Mini reef.

I hate the whole Watt per gallon thing. It is really something that leads people astray. Light intensity is just as important as wattage. I would rather have 300 watt of MH than 440 of VHO.

But anyway. In my tank I have
350 Watt of MH
440 Watt of VHO
130 Watt of PC

I would prefer having 500 Watt of MH but I messed up when I ordered and didn't' think big enough.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Azizza 2004-09-03 14:01][/span]

I have 1580 watts over my 180......but as stated, WPG is not a good way to measure.

As Azizza stated, if you use MH then the WPG rule is thrown along ways out the window.......same as if you use VHO or PC on a very shallow tank.

500 Watts, MH. 75 Gallon.

Ok, thanks for the reply's! It seems I was daydreaming, and just had a rude awakening. I will need to get MH, but do I need to use a white spectrum VHO or PC as well, as the Mh will provide this? And I will still need to keep the 2X actinic globes I currently have right? My canopy is very small, so I might be able to fit 2 MH in with 2 X actinic, this should be good enough for a 30gal mini reef? Thanks guys, I only recently saw the great improvement of what light does to corals in my small upgrade, so I want to do it right now, instead of wasting money on a poor set-up which has to be corrected later.

MH will provide all the spectrums that you need. You might however need to supplement with actinic, or 10K bulbs to suit your taste on the way the tank looks to your eye.

For a 30 gallon tank I would go with either one 175 watt, or one 150 watt halide...this will still give you lower light areas on the outside edges for corals that dont prefer high light.

If you want to keep high light SPS then you could also go with 250 watt MH, but it wouldnt be necessary.

[span class="edited"][Edited by DarkRealm Overlord 2004-09-05 20:04][/span]

Thanks, I will need to see which one will fit. I am thinking to add 1 X Actinc and 1 X White + 1 X MH in the middle. This should give all over light and the needed boost for SPS. Will the MH be to mutch for leather corals, and sponch, and sun coral? These corals are on the edges of the tank.

300 watt DE MH over 120 gallon

Nope, the leather will actually like the higher intensity light and should take off in growth once it is acclimated.....shrooms dont mind the light in my tank either, and neither do the sun polyps.

There seems to be problem... The casing of the MH is to big to fit in my tank. The casing is twice as high as my canopy of my tank firstly, secondly the heat of the MH will melt my canopy as it is made out of plastic. Nobody seems to make a smaller casing for MH. I am now trying to find out if these 12V 50W down lights would do. The best I can get is 3000K @ 910 Lumen. Is this good enough if I add 4 of these? Or does anybody know of a smaller make or plan that I can use. The canopy is part of the tank so I cannot remove it. Any help would be great, and Yes I am thinking of another tank, but the one I want will need some saving up for.