Enough Lighting for my tank?

[YzF]

I have a 2 feet tank (running for 4 months) and is planning to set a reef tank with it.

Currently running on :

Eheim 2222 External filter

2 X 36W PL light (Coralife actinic and 10 000K)

Sander Skimmer (small one)

10 kg of Live Rock

1 maroon clown

1 yellow goby

2 cleaner shrimps

2 Fire Shrimps

Some mushroom and green buttons.

2 feather

Questions:

I wanted to try Clams, Anemone and some other corals (dun know names of them) with my present specs. Dun think wan to buy a MH.

a) Is it possible?

How to improve? Another set of T5?

c) Which of the above mention can/cannot be keep?

Thanks for all your comment!

[ervine]

my 1ft cube tank had 2x36W of light... so I think your 2 ft tank should need twice that... which means the only way out would be T5s...

[typrobin]

PL is definitely not enuf for clams....i won't even suggest T5, go straight of MH....but with MH comes the temperature problem....my bro-in-law is using a single 150W MH and cooling with fan...so far temperature remains around 28-29degreeC with apparently his LPS can live with...richer reefers will definitely use MH with chiller but pple like us on tighter budget will have to use fan...and with fan, comes the topping up problem....hahaha....sianz.....i top up 3ltrs of water everyday with a drip, tell me about being troublesome....no choice unless u can afford a tubby(i think its $140).....but since your tank is only 2ft, it can be quite dangerous as the salinity might increase drastically....

[Creetin]

i use PLs and have clams in my tank. just put them higher. for pl, u need more tubes. i use 4x55w pl.

[JustinK]

I have a 2 feet tank too and also keeping some clams (maximas) in it plus other LPS. Was using 2X36W PLs too, but realise tat my clams didn't do well in it, after a while, they lose their intense colour and started to turn brown, so bo pian, went straight for single 150W Mh. Now my clams are doing much better and my LPS are opening up much bigger than before. IMO, 2X36W is not enough... try to aim for at least T5s (3-4 tubes), or best go straight for Mh if your budget can afford (you will need it next time when you upgrade anyway). Jus my own experience with a 2 footer.

What you have currently in your tank can survive with PL, but if you aiming for clams and anemone and LPS, then advice is to upgrade cos these require strong lighting conditions.

[YzF]

btw whats LPS and SPS? i think my polyp turning brown,, because of poor lighting??

Thinking of getting the Dyma T5 as additional.. 2 X 20W

Enough then?

[Eric]

btw whats LPS and SPS? i think my polyp turning brown,, because of poor lighting??

Thinking of getting the Dyma T5 as additional.. 2 X 20W

Enough then?

Hehe, you try with the 2ft 2 x 24W T5 first, if still cannot then sell the T5 to me cheap cheap as refugium light then get a 150W DE MH with fans.

Eric

[dravan]

think u wld need at least 150mh t5 is possible provided ur tank depth is not too deep

[JustinK]

LPS - Large Polyp Stony corals (eg. Bubble, Hammer, Torch, Elegance etc)

SPS - Small Polyp Stony Corals (acropora, monti etc)

Search www.liveaquaria.com if you wanna find out more.

btw, T5s for 2 feet comes in 24W, if you wanna get T5s, try to aim for as many tubes as you can, 2 tubes is really quite minimum.

[YzF]

Thanks Justink.

There is new T5s in the market. 20W one. Cheaper.

i saw MH for 4 or 5 footer. Look like PL light casing with 3 or 4 very small bulb inside. Does the 2 ft MH look the same?? I dun wan to drill holes on my walls to mount the MH.

Btw whats the price of the MH like?

and the price of T5 2 X 24W?

[JustinK]

You dun need to mount the Mh from the ceiling, jus get someone to customise your Mh for you on a mounted stand that you can mount on your tank. Single 150W 10KK is enough for you. Price range is bout SGD250-300 (around there i think), regarding T5s, pricing is slightly less...you can pm dr evil to check, he's quite good at customisation...so its really up to you and what you intend to keep in your tank.

[YzF]

250 hummm...then got to sell my PL to get the budget.. DrEvil where you??!

Anyone has a pic of 2 or 3 footer MH??

[dr evil]

250 hummm...then got to sell my PL to get the budget.. DrEvil where you??!

Anyone has a pic of 2 or 3 footer MH??

me here.....u got pm