lighting for my 55 gallon setup

[new guy]

im debating on switching my current tank to a saltwater and was wondering if the fixture i came across from a neighbor for free was sufficient it has 2 12,000K daylight bulbs 2 03 true actinics and some l.e.d lights for moonlight....and possibly any additional equipment recommendations would be appreciated thanks

[charlie]

Going to have to give me a little more info on that light for me to have any kind of an opinion at all, OK?

[new guy]

Going to have to give me a little more info on that light for me to have any kind of an opinion at all, OK?

it's a few years old and it mounts on the sides of the tank and has four flourecent bulbs I really don't know much about it my neighbor was just tearing down his tank before he moved it does have a fan built in to cool them down as far as specifics on it I'm not to sure...it's my first time trying saltwater so I was going to keep it simple and start with some live sand and a few fish and see how it went before deciding on adding live rock and maybe a few corals....another thing about the light that I forgot Is for some reason there are three power cords each one is set up to different lights in the fixture sorry if it's a little confusing but if you need any specific information I can find that out
thanks

Posted via Mobile Device

[Ninong]

The reason it has three separate power cords is because one cord is for the daylight fluorescent lamps, one is for the actinic fluorescent lamps and the third is for the LED moonlights.

Are these HO T5 fluorescent tubes? The 'HO' means 'high output' and the T5 means that the fluorescent tube is 5/8" in diameter.

Are the fluorescent tubes approximately 4-ft long? If so, they are 54 watts each. You probably have two 54w HO T5 12,000K tubes and two 54w HO T5 '03' true actinic tubes. The 'K' in 12,000K refers to degrees Kelvin. It's just a way of telling you the approximate color appearance of the lamp. In this case, it should be a bright white with a slightly bluish tint to it.

The '03 true actinic' part refers to lamps that emit in the 420 nm range (blue violet) and help make corals appear to fluoresce. Not the same as 'black light' but similar, if you get my drift. The '03' itself refers to the item number that Philips gave to the very first actinic fluorescent tubes. That was a long time ago. Since then other manufacturers refer to their lamps as "03 true actinics" to imply that they emit mostly 420 nm light rather than mostly 450 nm light, which in their opinion is not a "true" actinic. Anything in the 420 nm - 460 nm range can probably be considered to be actinic. It's just that some people prefer the original actinic, which was 420 nm.

By this time I have probably thoroughly confused you, so I will stop here.

Oops! I lied.

You might want to set your timer(s) so that the actinic tubes are on for 12 hours per day, the 12,000K tubes are on for 10 hours per day and the moonlight LEDs should come on just before the actinics go off at night and remain on for maybe five hours or so.

For example, you might set the actinics to come on at 9 a.m. and go off at 9 p.m. Then the 12,000K tubes would come on at 10 a.m. and go off at 8 p.m. The moonlight LEDs would come on at 8:45 p.m. and go off at 1:45 a.m.

This lighting, assuming that's what you have, would be adequate for soft corals and maybe a few LPS and SPS depending on where you place them in the tank relative to the lights. In other words, any SPS would have to be high up on the live rock in order to receive stronger light.

You will need to put some live rock in your tank along with the live sand from the very beginning. The live rock is more important that the "live" sand, which isn't really true live sand but that's a long story. Just buy it if you like it and it will be fine.

How about getting maybe 25 lbs of live rock to start? You really need at least 50 lbs but you could start out with just 25 lbs if you like. What you shouldn't do is start out without any live rock at all. And for god's sake, don't put any artificial decorations in your tank. Or dead coral skeletons, which would be even worse!



P.S. -- Those fluorescent tubes have to be changed every 10-14 months. See if your neibhbor can tell you how old these tubes are?

[new guy]

i wasn't expecting such a long yet helpful response so thankyou

and the lights are 4ft long, would i be better off getting the 420 nm lights or would the "fake" true actinic lights be sufficient for now, also when you say the black lights would those be additional lights that i would mount on my tank or do they take the place of the actinic lights...i like your drift ;)

ill have to invest in a few timers because i know i wont be there throughout the day to unplug and plug in different lights what a hassle that would be, and i appreciate the schedule youve already supplied me with so i dont have to trial and error that aspect

i did plan on putting live rock in but wasnt sure if it needed to be done from the start, as for the live sand does that really make an impact on filtration because ive been told it does if not would sand from the ocean be alright to use (i live in south florida and have access to some nice reefs that ive found over the years of snorkling and diving)

my neighbor said he changed them once in the approx. three year span hes had them and dont worry i didnt plan on using artificial decorations

[Ninong]

i wasn't expecting such a long yet helpful response so thankyou

You're welcome.

and the lights are 4ft long, would i be better off getting the 420 nm lights or would the "fake" true actinic lights be sufficient for now, also when you say the black lights would those be additional lights that i would mount on my tank or do they take the place of the actinic lights...i like your drift ;)

No, no, no -- do NOT get any black lights. I was just using that as an example because black lights were all the rage back in the 1960's. I was in my 20's and 30's back then. :eek3:

I prefer the 420 nm actinics that are often called 03 true actinic. You may prefer the ones that emit at 450 nm. The ones that are 420 nm are more purple looking and the ones that are 450 nm are more blue looking. It's entirely up to you. I like the 420 nm true actinic better but that's just personal preference.

ill have to invest in a few timers because i know i wont be there throughout the day to unplug and plug in different lights what a hassle that would be, and i appreciate the schedule youve already supplied me with so i dont have to trial and error that aspect

Yes, you will need at least two timers: one for the actinics and one for the 12,000K tubes. Whether you bother with the so-called moonlight LEDs is up to you. As someone else has already pointed out, they're more for the amusement of the people looking at the tank than anything else. However, they probably aren't bright enough to bother the fish and their sleeping habits.

Personally I think these LEDs are a joke because you can't control them to match natural moonrise and moonset or to mimic the intensity of light to match the phases of the moon. Such correct moonlight lamps are available and they can be computer controlled but they are very expensive. The little LEDs that you have are a joke but I gave up knocking them years ago because so many people actually like them. That's why I recommend leaving them on for only five hours at the most instead of all night. No harm done in my opinion but if I had one of those fixtures, I would probably set the LEDs to come on for just two hours and that's it.

i did plan on putting live rock in but wasnt sure if it needed to be done from the start...

Oh, yes! It needs to be in the tank from the very beginning and before you add any live animals of any kind. In fact, it has to be in there for at least a couple of weeks before you add anything and that's assuming it's already fully cured. Add your sand and your live rock, then wait a couple of weeks.

...as for the live sand does that really make an impact on filtration because ive been told it does if not would sand from the ocean be alright to use (i live in south florida and have access to some nice reefs that ive found over the years of snorkling and diving...

Plain, dry, aragonite sand in a bag would be fine. It would acquire all of the necessary beneficial bacteria all on its own without any help from you within a matter of days or weeks after you started up your system. They also sell damp sand in a bag that they call "live" sand. Well, it's sorta live in that it has some bacteria in it. The same bacteria that you will get without paying extra but that's a long story. The so-called "live" sand is fine. It just cost a little more.

Now on to the topic of Florida Keys live sand. This is excellent sand provided it's clean and unpolluted. Collecting it yourself -- assuming that's legal -- would be fine. I do know of some reefkeepers who live in the Keys who have done exactly this and it has worked out fine for them. You won't get much life in the Florida sand right now because of the weather. You will get the beneficial bacteria but not much else. It's too cold right now. You would get more life collecting sand in the summer.

So... If it's legal to take your own sand from the tide zone, go for it. You can collect if from deeper water if you prefer. It would be better if it's calcareous sand (aragonite sand) and not quartz sand (silica sand). Aragonite sand is whiter than quartz sand. To test the sand to see if it's really aragonite, take some home. Let it dry out a little. Get some plain white household vinegar. Now pour a little vinegar onto the sand or add a couple tablespoons of sand to a small cup of vinegar. If it's aragonite sand (CaCO3 sand), it will fizzle as it reacts with the acid to release CO2. If you put a small amount of aragonite sand into a larger amount of vinegar, the aragonite sand will dissolve.

You can use the sand either way, whether it's aragonite or quartz, but I would only use it if it's aragonite. If not, I would buy aragonite sand instead. I'm not sure how far up the coast from the Keys you find true aragonite sand. If you collect some near a reef, it's probably aragonite sand. Test it at home. Let us know how that turned out.

As you probably already know, it is VERY ILLEGAL to collect any live rock or any scleractinian corals (hard corals) in United States waters. It's against both Florida state law and federal law. This is strictly enforced.

my neighbor said he changed them once in the approx. three year span hes had them and dont worry i didnt plan on using artificial decorations

It's definitely time to buy new flourescent tubes. You want two actinics and two daylights. The daylights might be called 10,000K or 12,000K. They used to be called 6500K but that's another long story.

Good luck!

[new guy]

oh ok so no blacklights i did a little research on them nd they seem to be harmful to the fish definately not my intention so ill keep the actinics and ill probably go with the 420 nm

as far as live rock goes since its illegal to get it form the ocean these days ive been trying to decided on taking the "risk" of ordering online or trying to find some from a local store....ive read the pacific rock is better for filtration but may cost a little more depending on where you purchase it....also im skeptical about ordering live rock from online sites just because i would be picking the rocks myself since i have a general idea of how i want the layout to be

i will be going diving sometime in the coming week or so and ill post my finding on the sand....is there any specific reason or benefit for aragonite sand

would i be able to incorporate somehow my magnum 350 filter i was considering since im one of those do it yourselfers simple for the enjoyment of doing it building a sump/refug for under my tank

[Ninong]

I prefer Indo-Pacific live rock over aquacultured Gulf of Mexico live rock but that's up to you. I also prefer buying locally whenever possible, especially for small quantities. The prices will be higher than the online prices but you won't be paying shipping costs. Again, this is entirely up to you.

Aragonite sand is CaCO3 (calcium carbonate). Quartz sand is silica sand (SiO2). Calcareous sand provides a certain amount of buffering capacity to the system simply because it is calcium carbonate. Both aragonite sand and quartz sand will provide a habitat for beneficial bacteria and beneficial sand bed infauna but I'm partial to calcareous sand. For one thing, it's white when the lights are on and I think that looks nicer than tan sand. It just seems more natural to me to use marine sand in a marine aquarium instead of terrestrial sand.

A nice sand bed, decent live rock and a decent protein skimmer is really all you need. You could use your canister filter to run carbon. How often you run carbon is up to you. I ran it 24/7/365 but some people run it for only a few hours a week or a day or two a month. I simply placed about a cup of carbon in a mesh bag and placed it in my sump in a spot where the water would be forced to flow through it. I changed the carbon in the bag about once every six weeks. I think carbon helps.

[new guy]

i totally agree with the aragonite sand simply because i white sand bed does and will look alot nicer over the tan

ive been doing some reading on the melevsreef.com website and have been debating building my own sump and was leaning toward the Skimmer_Refugium_Return system and was wondering if i could use the magnum as a return pump or for additional powerheads and run a carbon bag in the sump but if the magnum cant handle the return load what would be a recommended return pump for my 55 gal and an approx. 20-30 gal sump

sorry for all the questions you just seem like you know what your talking about and i find some many different answers and beliefs on the internet as well in my lfs....because depending on who i talk to when im in there i get different answers for the same questions

[Ninong]

You can use the magnum to run carbon and to provide additional water movement in the aquarium. You will need a different type of pump for your system return pump to return water from the sump back up to the main aquarium.

[new guy]

so if i build my own overflow/sump /refuge approx 30 gallons and i use the magnum for additional water movement what size return pump should i get if its running just under the tank about 4 feet

how many times would you recommend a reef tank be turned over