Just a quick question...

[artman230]

I am thinking about upgrading my 20 gal nano to an acrylic 55 hex and I am curious about lighting.... I was thinking of going with a 24 inch T-5 4 bulb light fixture, but it seems to me that 96 watts is not going to be enough light. Can anyone out there help me out with this decision... Also if i go ahead with this idea I would have to plumb the tank because it has a 2 inch hole drilled in the bottom and I have never done that so if anyone out there has some good advise I could definately use the help. I also would need to get a stand for it so if anyone also knew where to pick one up for a reasonable price let me know I would even be willing to pay for someone to make it too. well I look forward to seeing what help I can get.

 

[returnofsid]

How deep is this tank and what types of corals are you planning to keep in it? those will be 2 key elements to what lighting you choose to go with.

 

[artman230]

I would say the tank is around 24 inches deep. as far as corals It would be mostly softies, and LPS, but I hava a few SPS colonies that are low light frags I am just trying to get more room for everything in my nano and currently I run a 70 watt HQI MH with one 55 watt actinic PC sometimes 2 55 watt PC's.

 

[returnofsid]

25" of water is a lot for T5 to punch through. T5s do put out a lot of par per watt but they don't punch through the depth as well as MHs. T5s are said to have comparable or even better par down to 18" though, so if you can keep your SPS higher in the tank, I think you might be alright. I'm running T5s on my 75, but it's a 6X48 Tek5 fixture. A little over 300 watts and my SPS are all doing great. I do try to keep them in the upper half of the 18" depth though.

 

[artman230]

sounds good man thanks for the help