Lighting

catie2 · 03/21/2009, 02:42 PM

Mytank came with t-8 daylight fllourescents will these be enough for corals if I put them up higher my mushroom and polyps seem okay.

Catie

RyanDragon · 03/21/2009, 02:50 PM

they won't survive,,, u need atleast a Power Compact Flourescence light system or if u could afford metal halide then u could get the corals to survive and have good growth rate

aquaticdiver · 03/21/2009, 03:03 PM

Your t-8 lights aren't quite strong enough but why don't you try Coralife 50/50 Power Compact Bulbs. They are like 15 bucks a piece and you can get them at Petco, Petsmart, and liveaquaria.com and they are half actinite lighting and half i think fluorescent lighting and they are what I use in my 10 gallon. I have some polyps, a pagoda coral, and a rasta leather coral growing in my tank with 2 of these bulbs.

cnaegler · 03/21/2009, 04:07 PM

Whatever type of lights you choose, whether it's power compacts, Metal halide, t-5's, you need an actinic bulb and a daylight bulb (approx. 10k) to provide your corals with the correct spectrums.

Michael · 03/22/2009, 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by catie2
Mytank came with t-8 daylight fllourescents will these be enough for corals if I put them up higher my mushroom and polyps seem okay.

Catie

if a couple of soft corals and up high near the top of the tank then probably ok, however id replace them with t5s as standard if it were me

cnaegler · 03/22/2009, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Michael
if a couple of soft corals and up high near the top of the tank then probably ok, however id replace them with t5s as standard if it were me

+1 . T-5's provide lots of light with low heat transfer. Plus you'll be able to keep almost any type of coral.

03/21/2009, 02:42 PM	#1
catie2 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Black Hawk, SD Posts: 9	Lighting Mytank came with t-8 daylight fllourescents will these be enough for corals if I put them up higher my mushroom and polyps seem okay. Catie

03/21/2009, 04:07 PM	#4
cnaegler Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Sylva, NC-Western North Carolina Posts: 960	Whatever type of lights you choose, whether it's power compacts, Metal halide, t-5's, you need an actinic bulb and a daylight bulb (approx. 10k) to provide your corals with the correct spectrums. __________________ Craig _________________________ ATL "Superman" acro, Vivid's Rainbow Delight acro wanted You can want in one hand and crap in the other and see which one fills up first!! Save the reefs! Buy captive bred fish and aquacultured corals! Current Tank Info: Downsizing to a 120 BB SPS tank, 6205 &6305 Tunze on 7095 controller, Current USA extreme 8 x 54 fixture

03/21/2009, 02:50 PM	#2
RyanDragon Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Downers Grove, IL Posts: 343	they won't survive,,, u need atleast a Power Compact Flourescence light system or if u could afford metal halide then u could get the corals to survive and have good growth rate

03/21/2009, 03:03 PM	#3
aquaticdiver Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 81	Your t-8 lights aren't quite strong enough but why don't you try Coralife 50/50 Power Compact Bulbs. They are like 15 bucks a piece and you can get them at Petco, Petsmart, and liveaquaria.com and they are half actinite lighting and half i think fluorescent lighting and they are what I use in my 10 gallon. I have some polyps, a pagoda coral, and a rasta leather coral growing in my tank with 2 of these bulbs.