which lights should i use?

[dUbBY]

hi bros planning to setup a 3 footer and i'm wondering which lights would be suitable? i haven't had any large setups so i'm relatively new to lightings... i have read many postings stating that the MH lights or T5 lights are 20K or 14K etc...what does that mean? I want to be able to keep a full range of SPS and LPS corals. so would 4 tubes of high output T5 lights be sufficient or 2 150W MH lights be better? THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!

[KaLiB]

MH lights or T5 lights are 20K or 14K etc

The K that you see represents Kelvin, or colour temperature. The higher the K, the bluer the hue of the light as there's more blue wavelength in the light spectrum.

For lighting, if your interested in SPS and LPS, I would recommend that you get a 2x150W MH at least. I'm afraid 4 tubes of high output(HO) T5s is insufficient for SPS. Colour temperature, you could use 14,000K.

Maybe, if you use HO T5s, you may be able to get away with it if you place the SPS high up(possibly within 1ft from the bulb)and you use 6tubes.

Sometimes, as a supplement to the MH bulbs, we use 1 tube of actinic blue light. If kiasu, can use HO T5 but IMO, a normal actinic blue fluoroscent bulb would do.

Do note that due to the high heat output of MH bulbs, its advisable to use a chiller to cool the tank as the usage of fans would cause large amounts of evaporation.

[dUbBY]

Thanks alot Kalib! I almost thought my post will be forgotten and be sent to the deep aybss of unanswered posts btw how do u know how many kelvins to use for which kind of setup? Is there any article i can read up on this?

[KaLiB]

Not really, so far haven't come across any articles which gave any definite answers regarding this. So IMO, its ok to use a light spectrum that your comfortable with.

Generally, we would use 10,000K or maybe 14,000K(in the case of MH). Avoid using 6,500K bulbs as these bulbs have more red wavelength, which encourage more algae growth.

Do note that the higher the Kelvin, the less "powerful" the bulb is. If your tank is 2ft and shallower, i believe a 2x150W MH setup should be sufficient, you can supplement this with a single actinic blue bulb.

[dUbBY]

Originally Posted by KaLiB

Not really, so far haven't come across any articles which gave any definite answers regarding this. So IMO, its ok to use a light spectrum that your comfortable with.

Generally, we would use 10,000K or maybe 14,000K(in the case of MH). Avoid using 6,500K bulbs as these bulbs have more red wavelength, which encourage more algae growth.

Do note that the higher the Kelvin, the less "powerful" the bulb is. If your tank is 2ft and shallower, i believe a 2x150W MH setup should be sufficient, you can supplement this with a single actinic blue bulb.

thanks for your help!