Lighting Dilema for beginner - Suggestions For Lighting Setup

[hugger38]

Hi, I have an aquareef 200. I have the stadards lighting that comes with it. 2 t5 whites 24W. 1 T8 Actinic (doesnt look great quality) and a short white t8 over the filtration at the back of the tank. My question is this. Can I improve this using the hood units by buying better quality tubes? And also whats a good lighting cycle for the tank, should I leave the actinic on all night?
Please help, i am keen to get it right at the start.

[charlie]

First off, what is an aquareef 200???

I am going to bet that the T5 lites you have are not high output T5's right??? It sounds like the lighting is all standard output florescent lighting. I don't think you can upgrade that without redoing the whole hood, ballasts and all. JMHO

I have my actinics come on 2 hours before my daylites come on, and stay on 2 hours after the daylites go off.
actinics: 10-10
daylites: 12-8

[Ninong]

First off, what is an aquareef 200???

It's a 200-liter (53 US gal) aquarium. Actually the tank is 37 gallons (140 liters) and the refugium is 16 gallons (60 liters). They add that together and call it a 200-liter aquarium, but that's the water capacity according to the manufacturer. If you use the exterior dimensions of the tank, you will come up with a higher number.

Technical details
Available Cabinet finish: Beech, Black
Dimensions Tank: 82 x 50 (15 cm filter depth) x 65cm
Dimensions Cabinet: 82 x 50 x 80cm
Water Capacity: 140L tank and 60L filter: total 200L
Heater: 200w
Lighting T5 Triphosphor 7100k: 2x 24w
Lighting T8 Marine Blue 20000k: 1x 15w and 1x 20w
Circulation pump turnover: 2600 L/hr
Protein skimmer: Aqua One AT80
Protein skimmer pump: 1200L/hr
Supplied: As Complete set only: this includes media, pumps, skimmer, T5 lighting tubes, marine salt, food and water conditioners
Add-on options: Aqua One Artic Chiller 250w and Aqua One Metal Halide Lighting.

[Ninong]

Hi, I have an aquareef 200. I have the stadards lighting that comes with it. 2 t5 whites 24W. 1 T8 Actinic (doesnt look great quality) and a short white t8 over the filtration at the back of the tank. My question is this. Can I improve this using the hood units by buying better quality tubes? And also whats a good lighting cycle for the tank, should I leave the actinic on all night?
Please help, i am keen to get it right at the start.

Will this be a fish-only aquarium or a reef aquarium? Either way, do not leave the actinic on all night. Have it come on maybe an hour before the other lights and go off maybe an hour after the other lights. You might have the actinic on for a total of 12 hours per day and the other lights on for a total of 10 hours per day.

Your current lighting is adequate for a fish-only aquarium but you will need better lighting if you want to make this a reef aquarium. The manufacturer offers a reef-aquarium lighting upgrade:

Add-on options: Aqua One Artic Chiller 250w and Aqua One Metal Halide Lighting.

Whether you need a chiller or not depends on your particular circumstances. I doubt that it gets all that hot where you live but a lot depends on whether the home/room is air-conditioned. I notice that the manufacturer lists the chiller option with the reef-aquarium lighting, so maybe they know that you will need the chiller with the metal halide lighting?