Lighting and corals

[jacomini.c]

Hello,

I am trying to figure out what lighting I need for my tank? I have a 20 gallon high that I want to be a reef tank. What lighting do I need and what frags should I get that will grow everywhere and hopefully add some color to my tank. thanks guys and girls.

-Chaser

 

[afboundguy]

Kind of depends on what you want to keep. If you want to keep higher light demanding corals such as SPS and clams T5's or MH's is a must. If you plan on staying away from them you can get away with Power Compacts or T5's. Basically I'd say get T5's because even if you say you'll stay away from the higher light demanding corals you'll eventually cave in so you might as well get the good stuff

If you do decide on T5's try to get a fixture/kit with individual reflectors as they maximize the potential of T5's...

 

[125tank]

T5 uses less power and put on a high amount of light if it has individual reflector. you can do all kind of corals with T5, if the coral demand low light, place it at the bottle half, it it demands high light, leave it up top. but of course, they grow much faster with MH

 

[jacomini.c]

Sorry to sound so new to this, but what is a T5 and what do they run around in terms of cost? I was planning on doing a zoa frag pack I saw available and hoping they catch like wild fire

I probably sound really dumb sorry guys

 

[MofoCorals]

How long is you tank?
This is what they look like.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+16770&pcatid=16770

 

[afboundguy]

T5 is a type of flourescent bulb. They are the most efficient flourescent bulbs. They are 5/8 an inch in diameter.

 

[JohnK]

T5 are the newest and most efficient florescent setups. Part of why they are so good is that they use thin bulbs that will work with individually contured reflectors so that the max amount of the light will end up in the tank. You can get "retrofit" kits that run around $100 plus bulbs, for a 2 lamp set up. Depending on the size and shape of your tank, you'd probably want 4-6 lamps.

PC ='s "power compact florescent", they were the last new thing in florescent. They are less efficient, and have some other drawbacks such as particularly short bulb life.

MH ='s "metal halide" which are super bright, but somewhat less efficient than T5, and they throw a lot of heat into the tank.


Also, just to warn you, you should not set up a brand new tank and then put any corals in right away. Let it settle in for at least a few weeks before adding anything even remotely delicate.

 

[jacomini.c]

It's a 20 tall. I think I'm gonna go look at some lights today.