Lighting for soft corals and clams

hi i have had had a 125 gallon saltwater tank for about a year now and i was wondering what kind of lighting should i use if i wanna keep clams or brain corals and more of the exotic corals. i have had my frogspawns and pom pom xenia for a year now and no problems but whenever i try to add clams and brain coral or stuff like that they end up dying in about amonth. what do i do im lost when it comes to lighting someone please help i could use all the info i get.

im not a expert but clams need alot of light like halides like 8 to 10 watts per gallon your soft corals do not need near that much threir low light as coral goes

I read about it, they prefer bright, indirect light and moderate to low currents, and they are also sensitive to other soft corals, so that may be you answer.. Good Luck!

<P>CLAMS NEED METAL HALIDES!!!!!!!!!!!</P>
<P>really bright light fixtures! a clam under any other type of lighting would be tortue in my book lol</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P>as for soft corals..&nbsp; mushrooms,leather corals etc..literally almost any light will do (i heard) but the cheaper the lighting the more ugly brown&nbsp; and un atractive your corals will be.you want to run t5HO (high output) over your corals! their a really bright and come in all kinds of different colors!!! also CHEAPER than metal halides!</P>
<P>if you plan on getting both clams and soft corals i suggest getting the MH fixture! you wont be disapointed!</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P>also LEDS right now are pretty kool!!! but their way more expensive than MHs or t5s!</P>
<P>study the corals you want to get b4 getting them and the lights</P>

Im doing research on my lighting since I am upgrading my SW tank. I came across this:


Different wattages of lighting systems will produce different light intensities. Because of this, a general watts/gallon recommendation is a poor guideline to use for a reef aquarium. For example; a 48", 54W T-5 fluorescent bulb emits light approximately 4 times more intense than light from a 48", 40W T-12 fluorescent bulb with nearly the same wattage. Another example is light intensity emitted from Metal Halide and HQI bulbs. Some organisms that originate in the shallow waters of the reef in nature require light intensity similar to that of the sun. These two bulb types reproduce the very high intensity light that can be neither duplicated by another system nor be financially feasible to be duplicated by another system.

i think first i said they need halides the 8 to ten watts is an average means they need alot of light and need to be placed in the right area of the aquarium and also need pristein water conditions they should be left to advanced aquarist i

or unless u have unlimited funds

yeah thanks alot guys that was really helpful and more info wouldnt hurt oh and i have a 6 foot long tank and was wondering if the light i have is even good enough for the tank i have. it is an HO T5 216 watt 48in High Output (4x 54w) T5 4 Lamp Lighting System FROM WAVEPOINT. IS THIS LIGHT ANY GOOD.

the light should reall cover the whole tank youre a foot short on each end it isnt not enough for hard coral u may get away with mushrooms leather star polop but u really need alot of light for coral start saving your money to upgrade lighting then add your coral later good luck to u

thank you guys so much today i was at the computer all day and i finally know everything about lighting now .

now i can finally master my tank. and a weird thing has happened i bought a rock with some pom pom xenia on it and i have about 200 pounds of live rock. this stuff has basically grown on every rock on my tank and its starting to ruin the look of my tank. the whole tank looks puple hAHAHAHA.

ANY SUGGESTIONS?

i saw your video today it really looks nice ure doing a great job u have skills i like the xenia it will dpread if it gets to big u can cut it off and sell some maybe some mushrooms and some star polyps let go in low light keep up the good work

PURPLE IS GOOD!!!
its called coraline algea!!! and it looks awsome when it takes over your rocks:)
the light you have is pretty good, but if you want SPS (Small Polyp Stoney) and clams i would go with MHs!! but thats just me!! lol

also what you can do (so you dont really have to buy a new fixture) is change the stock bulbs on that light fixture you have. t5s are the most popular light because you have a mean selection of colors to choose from and different light output options!i would search for different bulbs 1st b4 changing lights! i know youll fins bulbs that youll be able to keep most corals under!

i also agree on Fragging the Xenia!!! id take some off your hands:) its worth a trip to san diego!! i have family up their that iv been meaning to visit:)
alsoo if you have any live rock or dead rock lying around i can help you out with that also:) lol

omasakwall wrote:

yeah thanks alot guys that was really helpful and more info wouldnt hurt oh and i have a 6 foot long tank and was wondering if the light i have is even good enough for the tank i have. it is an HO T5 216 watt 48in High Output (4x 54w) T5 4 Lamp Lighting System FROM WAVEPOINT. IS THIS LIGHT ANY GOOD.

Wow you are really under lighting that tank. I have a 6 bulb T5HO lighting system on a 75gal. which is 324w of light. Here is the like on the fixture i use.
http://www.marinedepot.com/AquaticLife_T5_HO_6_Lamp_Light_Fixture_w_Lunar_LEDs_36_Inch_T5_Fluorescent_Light_Fixtures-AquaticLife-AK01191-FILTFIT56U-vi.html

come to mention i think every rock in my tank has purple accents on them. wow i didnt even know that i was doing a good job?! hahahaha.

oh and ill let everyone know when i start fragging my xenia. im most likely gonna give it away. it spread everywhere overtime!

I CALL 1ST DIBBS!!!!!! lol

I got 2nd then haha

My wife's nano has brain corals in it, and we use DYI LED lighting. I actually used LED christmas lights, and getting ready to do the same to my 180g. Tired of replacing the bulbs, it gets a little pricey.

omasakwall

What light fixture did you end up getting ?????

Lighting is very important as well as water, tank levels.

since you have a 125 that is 6 foot long i would suggest atleast three 175 watt MH lights splitting your tank into three two foot sections afar as reflectors i would suggest the spyders and go with electronic ballasts they are the most energy efficent ballasts.Now for Bulbs go with a 20k you can go with the name brands at around 80 bucks a bulb or like most of us in richmond use the plusrites from 1000 bulbs cost around 12 bucks been running them for about 6 months no and no ill effects and the same blue hue that i was getting from the corvulr bulbs.The downside of MH lights is the heat they put off i went from t5 lights to MH and had to get a chiller cause the 2X250 watt ran my tank temp up to 92 degrees.
The two most important things for a Salt Reff tank IMHO are Lights and Skimmers dont skimp out on either get the best you can buy .

i want in on the freebies i love the movement xenia adds

or i could trade you some rock add more room for yours to grow into and some stuff to spread out in my tank

this dude never came back =(

he had his tank up a year and still didn't know what it takes to keep a clam.. hmmm

Some guys just have a hard time keeping a clam happy