Best light for a 75 gallon aquarium?

[ReeferRyan]

I am buying a 75 gallon aquarium from a friend and I plan to have several corals. The light he has is a simple 24 inch fluorescent light, and the water looks almost green in his tank. In fish stores I have noticed that the lighting in the tanks makes the colors of the corals more vivid and the water looks much clearer. I would like to have an anemone and some other soft corals, along with several fish. What type of light would be sufficient for this setup? I have been told VHO and I have also been told Power compact would work. Any ideas? Thanks.

[reefwick]

VHO and PC would work for most softies and LPS. You don't necessarliy need MH for the anemone but it is advised. Otherwise you'll need hundreds of watts of either PC or VHO to sustain it.

[kevin21]

at least 390w of PC would be needed. for an anem. this will allow you to keep all softie and lps coral as well.

[vid151]

I have 520 watts of PC lighting on my 75... this is 2 X 4 bulb fixtures at 65 watts each bulb. I have very good luck with soft corals.

and musherooms grow like weeds.

DAVE

[ste6168]

I have 260w PC lighting right now but will soon gut it to use as actinic support to the metal halides i will be getting. HTH, Mike

[Paintbug]

i have 260 PC on my 75g. if you are looking for the best colors from your corals, stay away from PC :D my corals are growing and heathy but the colors are never like they were at the LFS when i bought them. or atleast with the day lights on. just to be honest if its in your budget, i would go with 250w X 2 MHs 14000k with 2 110w VHO actinics. that would be plenty of light for anything you want to have, and really bring out the colors of the corals.

[ste6168]

I dont know on my 75g i am probably going to go with 2 x 175w bulbs or 2 x 150w HQI bulbs. Either at 14k with my 4 PC lights as actinic support (to show the pretty colors when people come over). Anyway the point of this post was with two 175w bulbs and 290w PC actinic that is like 8 watts per gallon, the 250w bulbs seem like overkill and overheat. If you do want to go with 250w bulbs, www.reefmax.com sells a nice retrofit kit for $150. Have seen the in person and they look very good..

[ReeferRyan]

Thanks for all of the help. I do have to say though, I don't really understand all of the ratings. What is the difference between regular bulbs and actinics?

[ste6168]

well there really is no phrase "regular bulbs" i guess you are referring to the "whiter" or daylight bulbs. Anyway those are usually like 10000k or 14000k sometimes people like 20000k, but anyway it is just the kelvin rating of the light, the higher the kelvin rating the "bluer" it appears to the human eye. I do not know the differences in coral growth becuase i am a noob myself, but will somedy learn. Also i do not know the kelvin rating of actinic lighting but they are they very blue lightss you see, people usually use them as sunrise and sunset. HTH, Mike

[Paintbug]

actinics are blue bulbs they help bring out the colors, and suppliment the corals with the blue bandwith they need. the 10000k would be whites or daylights. 14000k bulbs would be a little bluer but not like actinics the higher up the Kelvin scale the bluer they get, the lower the more yellow they get.

[RBU1]

On my 75 I have 4x96 watt PC's and dual 175 MH's. Add that up and it is almost 10 watts per gallon. I have not found a neat looking bulb scheme yet but I use 10,000k in the halides and 50/50 actinic 10,000k on the PC's. I think I can put anything I want in my tank.

[ReeferRyan]

The help is greatly appreciated.

[cateyes]

RBU1 -- have you got any pics of your PC/MH set up?? not of the color in the tank, i mean a inside canopy shot... how you have them set up... thanks

[DCFix]

Yes, I would like to see a pic of your lighting set up as well RBU1.

[RBU1]

As soon as I get a chance I will post a pic. Maybe tonight.

[RBU1]

OK here is some pics. It is real hard to get a picture from in my canopy. I have my halides mounted in the middle and 2 of the compacts on one side of the halides and the other 2 of the compacts on the other side. I hope this works. BILL

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/61515DSCN0317.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/61515DSCN0318.JPG

[RBU1]

Figured I would show you some more of my tank. I am proud of it!!!!!!

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/61515DSCN0320.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/61515DSCN0319.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/61515DSCN0326.JPG

[RBU1]

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/61515DSCN0321.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/61515DSCN0323.JPG

[cato]

Hey Ryan. Got a question 4 u. What are you gonna do about your screen name in a couple years when your no longer a noob??:D

[Larry Waughon]

I would go with two 250 w-14k MH. It will give you a nice look and you could add whatever you want to your tank.Good Luck!

[ReeferRyan]

Probably get a new sn and just put "formerly known as ReefNewbieRyan" in my sig

[mcox33]

I have a 90 which is 4 inches deeper than the 75.

I am running

2 x 400 watt Hamilton 14K MH
4 x 65 watt pc's (2x 12K and 2 x actinic o3)
1 x 28 watt current Actinic 03 (retro sold as moonlight but way to much for moonlight in my opinion. Good for sunrise and sunset though.

4 x led bulbs

[cateyes]

thanks for the pics RBU1!!!
tank looks great, what kind of tang is that?? is he your only fish??
i like the way there is swimming room all the way around the rockwork!!! looks good!!

[RBU1]

Thanks, That is an Atlantic Blue tang. He is getting HUGE!!!! He loves to eat. I hope to get a 180 for him to swim in. I stacked the rock in the center because I have the tank set up as a room divider. I works out well because the tang loves to swim circles. He is not my only fish. I have 2 Ocellaris clowns, a six line wrasse and a Mandarine.

[Dennis7]

I like MH and pc's in a combination with timers.