Questions on soft coral and anemone requirement

[clownfish_forever]

Hi bros,

Currently my 4ft aquarium is largely rock-only. I am thinking of converting it into a soft coral aquarium so want to find out more.

1) The current temperature is around 31.8C - is really warm. I am planning to put up fans to cool the water down to 28C - if possible. Is this temperature good for most soft corals such as zoas, mushrooms, leather? Is it good for anemone too?

2) What is the lighting requirement? I dont think I want to go for MH since the heat is going to cook the water. Can I go for T5, or T8? How many tubes are good enough? My tank is 2ft high. I do have a troublesome situation, my tank is 1.5ft wide so after installing fans on the side of the tank - I am running into insufficient width to mount a 6-tube light fixture - unless any bro can advise me how to tackle this.

3) I heard that bubble tip anenome may be able to do well without MH, in replacement of some other light? Would like to know what light is good for these anemones.

Thank you all for reading this.

[clownfish_forever]

Hi all,

I have done some read up online and found that T5 HO can be used for soft corals. But I read that there are suggestions to go for 4 tubes, some said 6 tubes - so kinda lost how much is sufficient.

There is a site that said 4 Watt per gallon for soft corals so assuming my tank is 90 gallons, I would need 360 watts?

Each T5 HO is 54W, seems like need 6 - 7 tubes???

Hence my confusion - really hope someone can help to shed some light?

[Terryz_]

You can just make it with 4 tubes of T5 for softies and BTA,,,

With a 4ft, I personally think fans is not enough to bring the temp down from 31 deg..

[pinkspid3r]

bro you can try getting this fan http://www.smilepetshop.com/shop/s/smilepets/img-lib/spd_20080325172820_b.JPG

cost below 30bucks, im using one for my 4x2x2, on 24/7. able to cool my tank temp from 31 to 28~29degrees, 27 also possible on cold rainy day. but water evaporate really alot

[clownfish_forever]

Thanks all. Ya, I have bought the same fan and I was so surprised that my temp went from 31.8 to 28.4 degree! It is good product but not sure what is its lifespan.

As for the 4 tubes for T5 HO, can I also ask does it have to be all white bulbs? or can I have 2 white 2 blue bulbs? Thank you.

[Planted]

Wouldn't your rate of evaporation increases high? i recommend led if your budget allows as T5 increases water temperature after a long time. Do you use skimmer and other equipment?

I am using a chiller and it fluctuates between 25.5-30. But my zoas and mushroom are doing fine. Recently added finger leather and it is adjusting. Opened and closed due to shedding(of which i heard it is normal newly introduced to a tank)

So if you are talking about temperature range, my zoas grew and mushroom survived.

As of the lights, i had 2tubes of 20w + 18w marine lightbulbs, plus 9w LED arowanna tanning light for my 2.5ft and it survived well. Not much growth. I changed to LED DIY and it opened big big. i would suppose the intensity is more important than the wattage given that its hard to calculate watt/gal for LED.