Is there such a thing as too much light?

[aramis]

I am a newbie at this and was given some equipment by someone else. I have a 30-gallon with 45 lbs. of live rock (cycling right now). The lighting I have been given is 36" 10000K 96W one blue, one white. What do you experts think? :?:

[HoopsGuru]

It all depends on what you want to keep in the tank. Some corals will literally burn from too much light (or too much too quickly).

In your general case, 96w over a 30 gallon is far from "too much" light on just about anything....I would put it into a "medium" lighting category. I have a 96w Smartlamp PC bulb on my 30g, and I am able to keep a variety of soft corals and LPS very healthy.

What are your plans?

[Pineapple House]

I agree with hoops.

Some softies will use less lighting, and too much lighting is known for burning its tissues, while more light demanding corals will thrive off of the lighting.

I would say your lighting is far from too much. LPS and softies would do quite good with your lighting :-)

PH =)

[BigE]

I 'd also agree that it depends on what you want to keep. A 30 gallon tank is a good size to keep softies and shrooms and should do well under 96 watts.

[phistio]

i don't think you have "too much light"

for instance...i have a total of 110w from my PC's on my 25 nano-reef...which comes to 4.4/wpg...but with the reflector...it's a bit more...

[HoopsGuru]

O.k., I know this is quite anal of me, but since he is a "newbie" and this is in the intro section, I thought it was important that he be told the exact facts. (although it is all agreeably confusing)



i have a total of 110w from my PC's on my 25 nano-reef...which comes to 4.4/wpg...but with the reflector...it's a bit more...

With or without a reflector, your light fixture uses 110w. Put as a ratio with the amount of gallons your tank can hold (25) you get an unreliable number such as 4.4wpg. This is simply a measure of power...a reflector does not change this.

Your reflector increases the amount of lux being focused on your tank. Lux is a measurement of light intensity on an area.(measured as one lumen per square meter) This also makes it the most vital number when determining the lighting of your tank....but also is the hardest to calculate. A hobby grade Lux meter is available for about $100.

Often confused with lux is lumen. Lumen is defined as the light output from the lamp. (not focused light, just light :wink: ) It is usually measured in lumens per watt.

Hope this doesn't just make things more confusing, if I did feel free to post more questions.

[phistio]

no...you're right hoops...and i hope i didn't confuse you aramis...

but, i was trying to put things in perspective...

Aramis, i have 2 55w power compacts on my 25 gallon reef...total of 110 watts which averages 4.4 watts per gallon...

if i understand right, you have one 96w PC on a 30 gallon...which gives you 3.2 watts per gallon...

sorry for the confusion with the reflector...does this help in comparison?