i going to get a light for my 75 galllon tank but i dont know how many wattage i need for my reef
What type of coral do you want in your reef? Different corals have different lighting needs. You can do a nice low light reef tank too!
Also the watt-per-gallon "rule" is out dated. Different light types are more efficient than others. A 150 watt halide is mush more efficient than a 150 watt incandescent house bulb for example. High output T5s and compact fluorescents are much more efficient than normal flourescents.
High output T5s are very common for most reef tanks and work well for most corals. If you want high light corals or anemones, get something with a 250 watt halide or more.
I myself like the halide/t5 combo lights.
Get a light rated in between 10,000 K and 20,000 K. 10000K may make some coral look washed out, 20000K may seem too dim to you but is still very bright! 14,000 K is a great middle. It is often desirable to do a 12000K- 14000K 250 watt halide (or two) and T5s or compacts at 10,000 K and 20,000 K (highlights and shadows). Another very common one is 10,000 K halide and 20,000 K T5 or compacts. I think the 12,000 K halides are better though.
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If you are not going with corals that need high light (most corals are moderate or moderate/high at most, usually SPS are the higher light demanding corals and most others can do well with less light) you can do the 150 watt halide systems for cheaper or have more variety. If you are only doings "moderate" light coral or lower light coral, the compact fluorescent and T5 systems work wonders.
Some excellent light choices:
http://www.aquacave.com/icecap-48-reef-i ... http://www.suburbanreef.com/48-aqualight ... http://www.marineandreef.com/Hamilton_Te ... This light is just cool:
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/pr ... Avoid: stay away from Odyssea lighting. It might be cheap, but they are terrible! They are cheap all around, cheap wires, cheap lights, cheap fans, and over time these things give out much sooner than lights that are built better. There is no customer support to speak of, so good luck getting any help or parts when the light breaks. Know too that I have had TWO of their lights catch fire on me. I've only ever owned two of their lights. Of al my years and all the other brands I have tried, only the Odyssea ones caught fire too. So that should tell you something.
I'd at least use two of these.
http://cgi.ebay.com/48-T5-HO-Aquarium-Li ... pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com Even better would be one of these.
http://cgi.ebay.com/48-T5-HO-Aquarium-Li ...
