Which light to use?

[Ayesha97]

I have a 20 gal tank that I've just started. The tank came as a kit and came with a 15W Hg Aquarium lamp. My boyfriend's mom gave me an old handme down lamp that is a "ESU Reptile Desert 7% UVB... F15-T8-180 BP." This is the one that I'm currently using. At some point I would like to have more of a reef like tank. Would this be enough to support photosynthesis for corals and such? If not any suggestions on what to get for future use?

 

[WarOrks15]

no not really. to grow corals you really need a lot more light. more like PC and MH. and you want stuff more in the blue color looking.

 

[jackdp]

For high light corals and inverts(like acros and clams etc) you would want to go with MH lighting, for soft corals, mushrooms etc you could use PC only. I started with 2 55 watt PC lights on my 20 gallon and just added a 175watt MH light to give me more choices of corals. Just keep in mind that with MH lights comes heat and evaporation issues that must be dealt with.