Is this overkill on a 55 gallon?

[va reef walker]

Hi all,

Doing a lighting upgrade and was wondering if these would be overkill on our 55 gallon?

Odyssea 48 inch Metal Halide Fixture 2x250W HQI + 4x54W T5 +6xDual LED

We want to be able to keep pretty much anything, but don't want it to be too much light.

Also we have the plastic bar in the middle of the top of our tank, will the light cause any issues with that since it's 48" long, or should we get two 24" lights instead?

Thanks in advance.

Kris

 

[marcah]

I would cut back to more like this one ( not sure if they have it in the advance plus though).. still be over 7 watt per gallon which would be more then enough.. that bar will cause no harm the two MH lights will be on either side of it..

 

[va reef walker]

I would cut back to more like this one ( not sure if they have it in the advance plus though).. still be over 7 watt per gallon which would be more then enough.. that bar will cause no harm the two MH lights will be on either side of it..

Thank you for your suggestion Marcah, but I failed to see what you were referencing... Don't know if it's an issue on my end or not.... Could you post what you were referring to again please. Again Thank you.

Kristian

 

[marcah]

wasnt on your end didnt take for some reason, I am really sorry
Odyssea Metal Halide System
something in that area would work.. just acclimate corals slowly will still be bright..
wether it be that one or one of equivelent size..

 

[va reef walker]

wasnt on your end didnt take for some reason, I am really sorry
Odyssea Metal Halide System
something in that area would work.. just acclimate corals slowly will still be bright..
wether it be that one or one of equivelent size..

Thank you again, and no need to apologize these things happen :D.

Since you said it will still be bright, do you think we could get by with a lower light set up, maybe even one without the MH? Just simply run T5's. I've looked around and haven't found any T5 set ups though that have a high amount of wattage in a similar price range.

Truth is I have no idea what to look for. I know at one time the rule of thumb was from 4-8 watts per gallon, but have read recently here that you can't necessarily go by that.

Any other advice that would give us the freedom to have a variety in our tank, but not be overkill or super expensive would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Kris

 

[marcah]

the reason for the wattage per gallon is because of LED"S coming into the market...
Here is a reall nice light call them up you may be able to do a little better..
aquatraders is really hard to compete with price wise..
Catalina Aquarium

another would be this but the price on a 6 bulb fixture is a little pricey..
Aquarium Lighting for Reef Systems: Current Nova Extreme Pro T-5 Fixtures
if you were going to stay with Soft corals and most of the LPS corals you could do a 4 bulb fixture but some of the more demanding corals and anemone's you may run short on lighting for them...

 

[va reef walker]

the reason for the wattage per gallon is because of LED"S coming into the market...
Here is a reall nice light call them up you may be able to do a little better..
aquatraders is really hard to compete with price wise..
Catalina Aquarium

another would be this but the price on a 6 bulb fixture is a little pricey..
Aquarium Lighting for Reef Systems: Current Nova Extreme Pro T-5 Fixtures
if you were going to stay with Soft corals and most of the LPS corals you could do a 4 bulb fixture but some of the more demanding corals and anemone's you may run short on lighting for them...

Marcah thank you again for the info. Our concern like you said is not being able to put the more demanding corals and anemone's in once we get to the point to do that. Our goal is to start very slowly with what we put in, but have the capability later on as we grow in experience to have such things if we want to. I know alot of people have had great success in being able to put sensitive things in there tank rather early through trial and error. For us we don't want to do that, mainly because not only are we learning about taking care of this tank, but our little one's are too. We know if we take our time and have more success than failure it will encourage them as they grow to one day have there own tanks as well. Not to mention all the other great lessons that come from having a tank of this nature.

Thanks again,

Kris

 

[marcah]

there are a few things in this hobby ( most) that you dont want to skimp on and one of those is lighting.. it is going to be one of the most expensive things you buy for the aquarium and doing it right the first time is important..
Feel free to ask more if needed there are alot of knowledgable people herre willing to help..
good luck and enjoy..:D

 

[Bifferwine]

I think that light you linked to would be overkill. It may even make it difficult to keep a lot of corals since it's so much light.

For a 55 gallon tank, you don't need MH. You can go with a nice 6-bulb T5 setup. That would allow you to keep anything you wanted.

 

[va reef walker]

I think that light you linked to would be overkill. It may even make it difficult to keep a lot of corals since it's so much light.

For a 55 gallon tank, you don't need MH. You can go with a nice 6-bulb T5 setup. That would allow you to keep anything you wanted.

Thanks for the advice Bifferwine. Unfortunately most of the 6 bulbs I have looked at are out of my price range at this time. Realizing I'll need to upgrade later on, what about a 4 light system?

Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting

I know there are better 4 light systems out there that are in our price range, this was just a quick example. What could we keep in our tank with something along this line?

Thanks,
Kris

 

[Bifferwine]

I used to use a 4-bulb T5 light over my 55 gallon tank. Mine didn't have individual reflectors -- if you can find one that does, you'll be golden. I kept all types of corals, clams, and an anemone for a while.

 

[Justin33]

Save your money and buy good lights.
I ran into the same delima with my 55, but I bought the lights.
The 2x250 mh from Odysea was way too much. I ended up cooking several coral.
I replaced that fixture with the 4x54 from the same company and it did ok after replacing all four of the bulbs with better ones. (two were broken upon delivery).
On the larger tank setup, I will be using all LEDs due to the problems I had trying to save a buck.