How many watts per gallon do you run?

I am realising that lighting is one of my biggest issues. I am now asking around to get peoples opinions on how many watts per gallon I would need for said whatever I want to keep.

So far it is kinda like this. Fish and inverts and some algae ... 0-1 watt per gallon

Soft coral need a minimum of around 2 watts per gallon.

I am assuming that stuff like clams need alot more. If there was some way to make a basic chart than we would all be better for research.

I am not looking to make a big dramafest out of this. You know who you are. Just a basic rundown.

I have figured out that power compact bulbs can only get up to 90watts? But average about 55watts per bulb. So obviosly it will be more difficult to run alot of wattage in a small area due to phisical space for say 8 bulbs for an average of 440watts in a 75 gallon tank. 5.86 watts per gallon would IMO grow nice soft corals and some other non finiky corals. but you will usually average 220 watts (4 PC bulbs) on a 75 gallon tank. 2.9 watts per galon. Good for softies?

I see alot of people upgrading to MH. I also see that the wattage per bulb is much higher, but also more spendy. What wattage do MH average at? What are you keeping that needs that high of wattage? How many watts per gallon do you run to keep what you have?

If this thread is done right, mark could referance this for a long time to stupid stubborn newbies like me. And then us newbies could stop therowing good money away and make an educated desision on where on the food chain we can afford to be in this hobbie. Before buying stuff that either dies or is inferior.....

Rule of thumb is, at least 4wtts per gallon. When finished with my current mh upgrade, I'll be at 570 watts at the peak period of light... this is over a 55 gl tank. If it's a 75(IMO), you could try a 6x55watt pc, a retro 4x110 watt vho, or a 2x175 watt 10000k mh with an act source or just 20000k bulbs.   

     Jason

On my 24 gallon, I have 12.7 watts per gallon (1x175 watt MH + 2x65watt PCs)

On my new 90 gallon tank, i'll have about 6 watts per gallon (1x400watt MH + 2x65 watt PCs)

I'm right with Crazy on that.  That is what I was thinking.

Adam

On my 180 I had 6-40 watt NO Florescents and 3-36 watt PC's. 

I now have 2-250 watt 20K MH's, 3-40 watt NO Florescents, 2-36 watt PC's and 1-55 watt PC. 

I will still be adding 1-250 watt MH for a total of 1047 watts, but after MH #3 the NO's might go. 

What's that?  5.82 watts per gallon.  I guess that will have to do I can't afford anymore.  I believe what Adam says..."You can't have to much blah, blah, blah...."

ssilcox wrote: A 150W DE (HQI) bulb with the right reflector can give more light than a 400W mogul base metal halide

Really?? What about a 400 watt with the right reflector? Ive heard that reflectors for DE bulbs do a better job than the reflectors for SE bulbs. True?

so if MH is the easiest way to kick up the wattage, where or how do I get to seting some up resonably cheep?

I do not want the limits of my tank to be the issues with cool corals. I however am not going to be as crazy (yet) on corals as many of you are. But it sounds like I need at least 5ish for a decent soft coral tank. I have about 2.5 in 2- 10000 and 2-12000k PC.

So where do I get good knowledge on either do it yourself of buying MH for my tank. I cant fit in any more PC bulbs  so how do I make this work? Time to search...

I heard something on the radio about granger supply having MH bulbs or fixtures. Anyone have more knowledge.

You don't convert candlepower to kelvin.  Candle (or Candela) is a measure of brightness while kelvin is a measure of light color (simplistic view, I know).  Both are important and both need to be maintained.  The engineering units for measuring light are very confusing for everyone except those who teach physics .  Check the color temperature of the lights (Kelvin) if it's between 6,500 - 20,000 K then you can use them.  But I'll bet they are not the right "color" (kelvin rating).

well mark, if you came to my house I bet there would be issues. We bicker enough on the board, let alone in private.  My 12 volt light wouldn't be hard to make run off of a 12volt power supply. I understand that there is a needed spectrum of light to make things grow correctly and look nice also, but it kinda irritates me when I ask about soft corals (xenia ext) and how hard they are to keep. Every one says there like a weed in there tank. It just keeps growing. But they forget to mention that they have 600+ dollars in lighting. For that price I can go get laser surgery on my eyes.  

I don't think I want to spend that kind of money on something that is saposed to be nice and fun. I built a bad ass 4x4 toyota with junkyard parts and alot of ingenuety. Why can't I do the same with this?

So what is the average cost involved with building your own lighting setup? Say I kept the PC's and just wanted say 2 MH 400 watts in the hood. Is there a cheeper place to get ballasts and lights than through an aquatics dealer? Everything in aquatics is overpriced. I can build a hood for half the price of buying one new... CAnt I go to a lighting store and get out way cheeper than if I buy off the aquatics places in other links?

I don't have the money to spend. But I still want to tank to show off to friends. How can I do this on a really tight budget?