Is this enough light for corals anemones???

Brian7002 · 01/21/2011, 12:48 PM

28 Gallon Bowfront:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/Fish_Lig...tml?tc=default

It is a Coralife Aqualight High Output: (1) 10000K 24 W T5HO / (1) Actinic 03 24 W T5HO

Bones06 · 01/21/2011, 01:02 PM

IMO I wouldn't. That's under 2 watts per gallon. Maybe two of these might work. On my 55, I currently run ~4 watts per gallon and my anemone seems to be going great.
Also, I don't know how you plan on mounting the light, but it might be difficult on a bow front.

israel.kendall · 01/21/2011, 01:36 PM

I'd say no on the anemone. As far as corals go you could keep some lower light LPS like candy cane/trumpet, frogspawn and hammer mid to top, some chalices, acans, bubble coral, zoa's, paly's, etc. You would not be able to keep most SPS except maybe a pavona or birdsnest or something at the very top of your tank.

I started with a 2 bulb T5 setup and kept some of the corals I mentioned with it. They lived and grew, but did not thrive. I was NOT happy with only two bulbs and eventually added 2 more T5's. The difference in adding two more bulbs is like night and day, my corals are all much happier now than before, colors are better, and growth is faster.

My advice would be to buy a 4 bulb setup if you can afford it. If money is an issue it would be fine to start with the 2 bulb fixture and plan to add another when you can afford it.

James404 · 01/21/2011, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bones06

IMO I wouldn't. That's under 2 watts per gallon. Maybe two of these might work. On my 55, I currently run ~4 watts per gallon and my anemone seems to be going great.
Also, I don't know how you plan on mounting the light, but it might be difficult on a bow front.

With newer lighting such as T5's and now LED's the old "watts per gallon" rule is irrelevant. Having said that, I don't believe the OP's lighting would be sufficient for anemones, I would suggest at least a 4 bulb T5 fixture if possible. This fixture probably would be ok for some softies and maybe LPS though.

01/21/2011, 12:48 PM	#1
Brian7002 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 126	Is this enough light for corals anemones??? 28 Gallon Bowfront: http://www.bigalsonline.com/Fish_Lig...tml?tc=default It is a Coralife Aqualight High Output: (1) 10000K 24 W T5HO / (1) Actinic 03 24 W T5HO

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01/21/2011, 01:02 PM	#2
Bones06 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 175	IMO I wouldn't. That's under 2 watts per gallon. Maybe two of these might work. On my 55, I currently run ~4 watts per gallon and my anemone seems to be going great. Also, I don't know how you plan on mounting the light, but it might be difficult on a bow front.

01/21/2011, 01:36 PM	#3
israel.kendall Padawan Reefer Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Land O Lakes Posts: 922	I'd say no on the anemone. As far as corals go you could keep some lower light LPS like candy cane/trumpet, frogspawn and hammer mid to top, some chalices, acans, bubble coral, zoa's, paly's, etc. You would not be able to keep most SPS except maybe a pavona or birdsnest or something at the very top of your tank. I started with a 2 bulb T5 setup and kept some of the corals I mentioned with it. They lived and grew, but did not thrive. I was NOT happy with only two bulbs and eventually added 2 more T5's. The difference in adding two more bulbs is like night and day, my corals are all much happier now than before, colors are better, and growth is faster. My advice would be to buy a 4 bulb setup if you can afford it. If money is an issue it would be fine to start with the 2 bulb fixture and plan to add another when you can afford it.