Corals not growing!

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taylor8528

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
48
I've heard it's hard for these guys to die off... But I can't seem to do anything right. I had hermit crabs there gone there still not growing. Feed them once a week Rotifers. I have 2 clowns a blue devil an algae blenny and puffer. Lighting is 2 54w t5 bulbs.
 
What size tank? Is it a 55g? I think you may not have enough light, 2 t5's usually doesnt grow too too much unless the tank is pretty shallow.
 
That's what I'm thinking too. What do you suggest? How many watts do I need for LED lights?
 
Well, the easiest and cheapest way to go might be to get another twin t5 fixture, that will be a big improvement. OR you can go with led's, but I would say if its a 55g then youd need 2 and they are about $120 or so each.
 
Well I don't know the different wattage between regular light and LED's. I am between 2.... First is a light that includes 4 54 t5 bulbs 2 MH 250w bulbs and 6 LEDs. The other is a hanging LED 125w LED light. Is there much of a difference? Leaning towards the first choice.
 
The t5 quad light would be the cheapest most likely. And it will grow most corals you would think of. The Halides will grow anything you want but you have to worry about the heat and the temp of the tank, sometimes you need a chiller ($$$$) and like t5's they will require bulb changes about every year.
Now the led hanging panels are what alot of people use on this forum, i have 4 different panels running right now myself. lol The pros' are you dont have to worry about heat or bulb replacements, and the electricity used is alot less too. The halides will suck down electricity like crazy and the t5's use an average amount. The only downside to the led's is the initial cost. Check out ebay, they have the panels that everyone uses and they should be about $120 or so each panel but you would need 2. They can grow anything just like the halides so thats another plus.
 
Ok a 2 piece 165w dimmable LED aquarium light full spectrum lamp. Sound like a good buy?

Thanks for all the advice by the way...
 
No problem.....lol

ANyways, yes, two panels of that would be great, you'd be able to keep most anything you could think of, including anemones if the time comes and you want to go that route.
Make sure they are dimmable though, very important! Those lightds are gonna be uber bright and you will torch anything you put under them. I learned this the hard way just this last month. I had the power adjusted to even 50% and I burnt just about every coral I had to death. :-(
The other thing you might want to consider is that the full spectrum seems nifty but your corals wont care about the extra colors to be honest. That is for the look you want to achieve. I find the full spectrum to be too purple for my tastes, I much prefer the blue and white only units. But thats up to you, and what you like.
 
What's the difference between 120w and 165w? Would 120 be better so it won't burn the corals?
 
Depending on what you keep of course. :) I had mostly soft and not very light needy corals and they just fried. But if you had sps or something that requires more light then you'll be fine. I ended up going down to like 10% power on both white and blues and slowly every few days upped it by like 5%. I am now back at 50% and the two or three corals I have left have adjusted. Just have to get whatever corals you have used to the new light slowly.
 
Not too sure about the 165w ones. I thought for a few seconds about going with them but it seemed to be too much light. lol It might have to do with the leds' and what the drivers are pushing the power at. The 120w ones have power going through at like 3w I think each led. If you upped that to 4w you might have the 165w unit. So not entirely sure where the extra light comes from.
 
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