Need Help with lighting

[brad2157]

I must first start out to say that I am new to saltwater tanks. I have been trying to read as much as I can about the proper lighting, but wanted to post and get some help/recommendations.

I bought a used 120g saltwater tank about 3 weeks ago. The guy I bought it from only had some hammer coral and some red mushrooms growing on the live rock. I have since added two clownfish, a diamond goby, coral beauty, a few snails and hermit crabs, and a bubble-tip anemone for the clowns. The way the canopy is made, there is a square cutout in the center with a raised center portion that houses the lights (it lights the entire tank, although I want to get longer lights to span more of the length of the tank). It has one Metal Halide with ballast which is 150w I believe and two CoralLife compact fluorescents with ballast, which are 65w each. I don't think this is enough lighting for my tank, especially if I plan to add more coral later. My tank is 5' long, 24" tall, and 18" deep. Do I have enough light currently? What do you guys recommend for a tank my size?

[iFisch]

In short, no.

Next, it depends on what you want to keep, coral wise. If you just want soft corals, and the anemone, you can get away with another 150w MH light.

Properly lite 150w's cover about 1'x1'. Maybe 1.5x1.5 depending on reflector.


You may want to think about 2x250's or some T5HO's. I don't know too much about lighting huge tanks.

However I have experience with MH and HPS [high-pressure sodium] (used for growing vegetables) which is similar to reef lighting.



It ALL depends on what corals you like. If you want a full reef, expect to dish out a grand or more for proper lighting, unless your doing a canopy in which retro kits are much cheaper.