t5 lighting question

C

Cannoy

Member
i have a 38 gallon tank that i would like to be a reef tank.

i have 4 39 watt t5 bulbs. is this enough lighting for all corals?
are there only certain corals i can have?
and is this enough lighting for a pulsing xenia?

the bulbs are 2 actinic and 2 10,000k
 
F

funkpolice

Active Member
Indeed he did. I apologize. I had 130watts of pc lighting on my 55 for a long time. Xenia did really good, Zoa's survived but didn't really grow. Pretty much everything I had just stayed the same. I put another 130 watts on, and everything is doing a whole lot better, it's still not enough light, but it's an improvement.
bill
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
You can get away with MANY different corals with those T5's.

Xenia... you don't have to worry about it... it will thrive if your water conditions suit it.

You'll be able to have all but the VERY high light loving corals with those T5's. It also depends a LOT on the actual bulbs and type of reflectors but T5's are easy to experiment with :)
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
You should be able to do MANY things with those! you'll probably want to get "Creative" with the bulb manufacturer when it's replacement time but those LOOK to be very good reflectors!! That's probably what I'll use when I build a set of Frag Tanks in racks in my new house :)
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
I would be willing to say with proper bulbs you should be able to keep SOME sps.. and YES on LPS. What are you WANTING to keep?
 
C

Cannoy

Member
ive not really decided yet but ill have some polyps, anenomes, and mushrooms. ill probably only have lps i just wanted to know if some day if i wanted some sps if id be able to have them.

another question i have is what supplements i would need. is the kent marine essential elements and a bottle of calcium all i would need?
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Ok slow down just a bit :)

Anemone requires VERY high light and a well established (Mature) tank :)

Supplements... until you get the hang of reefing, get some test kits and all you don't need to worry about SUpls :)
 
C

Cannoy

Member
my tank has been set up for a few years, and it had t8's in it and i just a few months ago switched to 2 t5's. ive not been into corals until recently before then i only had fish.
 
C

Cannoy

Member
in about a week im going to get two more t5's and all new bulbs and then start to get some corals. how much light does anenomes need?
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Cannoy said:
in about a week im going to get two more t5's and all new bulbs and then start to get some corals. how much light does anenomes need?
Click to expand...

It's usually suggested that they have MH's or more unless you have an abundance of T5's. You may be ok with your setup but it's "Iffy".

:)
 
Edd13

Edd13

Member
I have had 3 anenomes under my T5s ... 2 got so big i needed to trade them off the last one died to electicution when my urchin ate the insulation off my return pumps power cord
 
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