Lighting for a propagation tank

[amylynnfloyd]

I am going to be setting up a prop tank very soon. My question is, would a metal halide grow light, or shop light work over a prop tank? They are much cheaper than the halide systems made for aquarium use. Obviously the color of the light would not really matter, since I will not be setting it up for looks. Will corals grow under this spectrum of light? I was just wondering if there were any other reasons why you could not use them. Thank you in advance!

[AnimaliA]

Depends on what you are planning to grow. For most corals, the more yellow/red the lights, the better the growth. If you are looking for the best color, you will want to have your frags spend some time under bluer light for a while before selling/trading/giving away.

I have seen good growth of zoas, some brains and softies with the work lights sold at various home improvement stores...but I have not seen anyone try SPS frags under those conditions (might be possible, just never witnessed it).

[hahnmeister]

I wouldnt say that the more red/yellow the light the better. Most corals rely on blue spectrums the most. It just so happens that 6500K and 10,000K bulbs put out a ton of blue and actinic (more actinic than a 20,000K for instance)... you just dont see it because of all the warmer spectrums.

I just dont want amylynnfloyd to go and think that 3000K bulbs or tungstens are going to be a good idea.

Shop lights are cheap, but they dont have the intensity you need for a reef. In the long run, the bulb replacement costs will kill the idea.

I would suggest a light, but first, it would be a good idea to tell what size tank you are thinking of using.

[amylynnfloyd]

I am wanting to keep around a 50 gallon tank. And would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks

[hahnmeister]

What do you want to frag/grow-out? By 50g, I assume you mean 36x18x18"h? as in a 50 breeder? Would you consider something 4' long... like a 40L or a 65? Just curious.

[AnimaliA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9480680#post9480680 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister
I wouldnt say that the more red/yellow the light the better. Most corals rely on blue spectrums the most. It just so happens that 6500K and 10,000K bulbs put out a ton of blue and actinic (more actinic than a 20,000K for instance)... you just dont see it because of all the warmer spectrums.

I just dont want amylynnfloyd to go and think that 3000K bulbs or tungstens are going to be a good idea.

Shop lights are cheap, but they dont have the intensity you need for a reef. In the long run, the bulb replacement costs will kill the idea.

I would suggest a light, but first, it would be a good idea to tell what size tank you are thinking of using.


Good catch. Thanks:)

[hahnmeister]

Sure, no problem.... you had the right idea I suppose... yes, 10,000Ks and 6500Ks are better for growth than bluer bulbs... but thats only because they tend to have lots of blue already (you just dont see it because of all the warmer light as well). But once you get into 3000K and other very yellow... they lack the blue all together.

It also depends on the type of bulb... halides, for instance, tend to put out a full spectrum of color, and then have spikes in the blue, green, orange, etc. A 20,000K halide for instance, still has a good deal of daylight in it... but a 20,000K T5 has a very narrow output... it puts out blue, and then its output drops off and thats it... no daylight 'included'. Same goes for halides/ vs say... 6500K tubes. The 6500K halide has an even spectrum from blue to red... its a very full bulb with loads of output. But a 6500K T5 for instance, well... it has many parts of its output missing. This is why for most T5 and tube based systems, you see a mix of many different spectrum bulbs... together they have a complete spectrum.

[amylynnfloyd]

Right now I am open to any suggestions about size of tank. What I had in mind was a 55 gal tank, 4' long. Sorry, I should have made that a little more clear. I have not yet purchased any of my materials yet. I am wanting to find out as much here as I can before I buy everything and set it up. I would like to keep cost down some, but I also want a nice setup. Any suggestions would help. Thanks

[amylynnfloyd]

I forgot to mention, I want to be able to grow a little bit of everything. That would include sps corals. So any suggestions on lights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[hahnmeister]

A 4x54wattT5 retrofit or Tek light would be a good idea... something with individual parabolic reflectors for each bulb. then just run a combo of 2x UVL sun and 2x ATI blue+ bulbs... its a crisp looking 12,000Kish look with loads of output.

Otherwise, you could also do a 150wattDE halide, 10,000Kish, on a 50B perhaps. A 150wattDE might sound small, but if its a good 10,000K... thats loads of output. For a 55g, you could put one on a 4' light mover rail... but thats another $200 that would take a while to pay for itself. I love my light mover though.

[amylynnfloyd]

Thank you for the input. It will give me some options to consider. Thanks

[hahnmeister]

I suppose you have to settle on a tank first... breeders are usually a good bet... you can usually light the whole tank with one halide (provided there is no cross-brace, so that means 30 and 40 breeders). A 55g has a 13x48 footprint, but the 18x36 does provide a larger area. If you want to go halide, then a breeder is a good idea. if you want to go T5s, then a 4' tank is a good idea, since 4' bulbs are the most common, and price-wise, its not the length of the bulbs that matters. 2', 3', and 4' bulbs are all the same price, and even fixtures are about the same cost for a 2' 4 bulb tek and a 4' 4 bulb tek. It comes down to the number of bulbs more, because that means more ballasts and reflectors. So a 6x39wattT5 (3' unit good for a 50B) actually costs more than a 4x54wattT5 (good for a 55g) despite then having about the same wattage.

One tank that I dont know if you can get by you is made by a company called Great Lakes Aquarium. Anyways, its a 48x18x12"h tank... 45gallons, but with enough space for anything. It used to use a few for cichlid fry... cheap too. I suppose you might want one drilled though too, so maybe a custom AGA tank then? AGA can do custom tanks as long as they can still use their stock plastic trim. So you could order a chop-top 75g, have them drill it to your liking with either clear or black silicone, and shipped to you. Many LFS's dont know about this or chose not to advertise it, so you may have to call All-Glass to figure out who can, but their custom tanks are very econimical too. My custom drilled 30B (no overflows so I could put my own in, with bulkhead holes in the back wall as well), with black silicone, etc... was only $129.

Another tank I have seen them do is a 'chopped' 120g... ends up being 90-100gallons. Its a 120 (48x24x24) but only 18-20" high. It looks very cool. I suppose you could even get one 12-14" high for 60-70 gallons and have a relly nice prop tank.

If you go 4', you can still have a single halide for light (although, on a 60-70, you may want to use a 250 instead). A light mover comes in very handy for this. That way you get light across the entire tank, so no shaded spots/angles where corals fade. Coral farmers all use em because they effectively double the output of a single halide. See, corals dont need constant light.... they are like batteries. The chlorophyll absorbs alot of energy, then it processes it, even in the dark (think clouds passing overhead), and as long as that light comes back in a few minutes, it will continue w/o interruption. This also prevents 'overexposure' and 'photoinhibition' because you arent constantly blasting the coral with intense light, but you are providing them with the nice peak amounts they need to grow very fast (faster than fixed lamps with constant output) and color in well. Best $200 I ever spent, and rather than another 250watt halide... its 5 watts and dead silent (and cooler).

For frag/grow out, its something to consider.

[amylynnfloyd]

Wow, thank you for the help! You have given me a lot to think about. I like the idea of having a custom AGA tank. I think I will look into that. I also never thought of the light rail as being a very good buy, for the price, but I may want to rethink that a little bit. It would greatly help the electric bill, and probably pay for itself in the long run. Thank you again for all the great advice.

[hahnmeister]

Yeah, the one I bought is a very low profile, and what Foster&Smith uses (they used to sell it too). Its called the Gualala Robotics Light Rail 3.5 Its dead silent, and has a delay mechanism so when it gets to each end of the rail you can have it stay for 5-30 seconds. This is to overcome the double exposure that everything in the middle gets in comparison to the ends which only get passed over once per cycle. Kind of a cool feature.

Foster & Smith sold this unit for about 1/2 what you could find it for elsewhere (online hydroponic suppliers). I wanted to use the mover inside of a canopy too... so low profile as well as humidity resistance were important. I figured that if F&S uses them in their coral farms, then they must be resistant enough for me!

If you have an open-air application (non canopy), and dont care about the clearance (mount it on the ceiling, etc), then the Aragmovers on ebay (just look up 'light mover' on ebay) are about the best deal I have found... $150 includes everything. They even have the end-of-travel delay like the Gualala Robotics. Pretty heavy duty looking too. Of the two motors most places offer, Id stick with the 6rpm over the 10 rpm. The 10rpm is more if you have those 9' tracks.

[amylynnfloyd]

Thank you, I am greatly interested in the light rail. I looked up some things about it, and am thinking more and more that this is the way I will go. Thank you for the suggestion.