will this light work for my coral

[joe&rae]

I have a coralife 24in 65 watt power compact and i want to know if this will be fine for my coral or do i have to upgrade? The bulbs are 50 50. Its only temporary how long will my coral live with this light. I have a few leathers, zoos, and mushrooms. This is only going on a 26 gallon bow front tank.

 

[bawel]

Hey there...

I have exactly the same tank, that light is not enough at all. You need to upgrade. That's only PC bulbs too, it's not enough power to penetrate thro the water for that corals. I dunno how long it will be okay, but please upgrade soon.

 

[ryshark]

If all you have are leathers, mushrooms and zoas I think you will be ok for awhile with those PCs. You would be even better off getting a bulb that is 100% in the 10,000k range instead of 50/50. The colors of the corals wouldnt look as good, but it is more usable light for them.

 

[joe&rae]

well do you all think that a t5 ho system would be better

 

[ryshark]

well do you all think that a t5 ho system would be better

There is no doubt the T5HO is better!

 

[melosu58]

well do you all think that a t5 ho system would be better

 

[joe&rae]

Ok but would it be ok for a permanent light system?? how many bulbs would be the best

 

[bawel]

Depending what kind of corals you want more after the zoas, leathers and mushrooms. I think for those, you can just have the 4x24W T5HOs, 2 actinic and 2 10K bulbs. I let the experts chime in since I made a mistake in the earlier answer

 

[catmel]

If all you have are leathers, mushrooms and zoas I think you will be ok for awhile with those PCs. You would be even better off getting a bulb that is 100% in the 10,000k range instead of 50/50. The colors of the corals wouldnt look as good, but it is more usable light for them.

So you guys recommend having the 10k bulbs instead of the 50/50 blue actinic / 10k white ?

 

[melosu58]

I run 2 50/50 bulbs and 2 super actinic bulbs. My lighting is VHO.

 

[ryshark]

So you guys recommend having the 10k bulbs instead of the 50/50 blue actinic / 10k white ?

Personally with only having PC lights I think having 10k would be better because there is no light going to waste. Any actinic light is more for looks than beneficial to coral. Considering that PC is the weakest light that is acceptable for some coral, I would skip the actinic.

 

[divedeep1689]

i have a coralife with 2 65 wat true attnic and two 65 wat 10,000k bulbs 48 in on my 55 gal tank with leathers and zoas it has been working pretty well but i regret not getting the t5ho system i have seen the difference in the tanks the coralfie seems to make alage grow better but it has been a good light for me

 

[catmel]

i have a coralife with 2 65 wat true attnic and two 65 wat 10,000k bulbs 48 in on my 55 gal tank with leathers and zoas it has been working pretty well but i regret not getting the t5ho system i have seen the difference in the tanks the coralfie seems to make alage grow better but it has been a good light for me

I was reading because its actually 6500 k and actinic not 10k. the lower the spectrum the more regular algae will grow. Thats why I was starting to wonder if I should get two 96 watt 10k white bulbs instead?

 

[ryshark]

Do they make anything in the 12k-14k range for your system? That would be the best of both worlds.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I was reading because its actually 6500 k and actinic not 10k. the lower the spectrum the more regular algae will grow. Thats why I was starting to wonder if I should get two 96 watt 10k white bulbs instead?

I think you'll want some actinic in there. When I look at my tank (1x 96W actinic and 1x 96W 10k) under just the 10k, it looks too yellow for my taste. The actinic make the colors "pop" and those fluorescent greens really come alive.

You can always just get 2x 10k bulbs and 1x actinic for this light change, and use the 2x 10k bulbs for a while and see if you like it. If you don't, then put the actinic in and save the extra 10k for the next light change.