Lighting Question (gotta love em)

[two11devan]

I have a 30 gal tank with lr and ls, 2 perc clowns some snails and a cleaner shrimp. Eventually I would like to put a few low level light corals (shrroms) in my tank. I currently only have a set up for one 24 in bulb. The bulb that I have now is a Aqua Life 24 inch 20w t-12 (flourescent). Would this be enough to support some of these corals. I know the wattage is currently a little low. What kind of light could i get that would support the corals and other life in my tank. Should i get a 50/50 or a 100% actinic? Would 20w be ok, or should i try to get something a little higher? For now, i am looking for something that will work in the current hood i have. I am not looking to get a new one or modify it just yet. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[loganj]

IMO, 20w just isn't going to be enough. Do you have room for another strip? If you could add another 20w strip light, you might do OK with some shrooms. I wouldn't try any other corals until you get some PC's or T-5's on there. If you keep your ca/alk levels up, you should get decent coraline growth also.

 

[MT79]

you can't skimp on lighting! A VHO hood/ballast w/ 1 actinic, and 1 sun light is the way to go (150 watts total plus you can add hoods, the ballast will power up to 450 watts approx. so if you buy a bigger tank... you get the drift). The actinic makes the shrooms glow-literally. Very cool. You can get a good deal at www.hellolights.com plan on spending 150.00 plus lights.....but then you can get an anemone for the clown to live symbiotically with. That is just an amazing sight There is no way around this cost, just grin and bear it, like I did...