Coral help !

[Araess]

I have some frogspwan and hammer head in my tank. I have a 36 gallon tank, but I have my frog spwan and hammer head about 4 inch from the surface. I only have a 50/50 t8 17 watt Pc bulb in, I know it's not allot I will be upgrading my lighting system soon tho. But my question is will my corals be fine under that lighting that far away from the surface ? I just need them to be ok for about 3 weeks. I want to learn more about PAR and lighting.

 

[G1203]

I have a frogspawn in my 36 gal and all I can say is I would try to upgrade your lights as soon as possible. I have my frogspawn pretty low in my tank and it is doing amazing under my t5s. I strongly recommend getting some decent lights. You should try the Dimmable 120w led lights! I hear they're really good for the price! Hope I helped

 

[Araess]

Yeah in still on the fence about LEDs. I'm thinking about getting a halide / t5 system I currently have my friends halide to hold me over , all I can say is that light works magic !!!

 

[G1203]

Yah! I really like the t5s

 

[Araess]

I like the look t5's put out but halides are best for growing hard corals. I would love to do LEDs but I want my corals to grow fast !

 

[furrymurray]

I have an sps tank under LEDs and everything grows fast.

 

[Gregcoyote]

There is no reason a good LED panel can't outgrow a MH fixture. And frankly, if you don't have a chiller, the high temps and temp variances are worse for the reef than any light source.

 

[Riverhawk]

I have a marineland reef led on my 20 gal nano and my hollywood stunner loves it! Finally growing nicely..hammer and frogspawn are too

 

[Araess]

Could you link to to that light ?

 

[Sniperhank]

I would never recommend any marine land light. They are garbage and are lies about being reef lights and are more expensive than the cheapest if led options where you can keep any photosynthetic creature you would ever want to under it. Look up the taotronics led units as a start. Find them on amazon.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I have nothing to say about the MarineLand light, but I caution anyone about buying their cheap brand of submersible pumps. They are flat out dangerous as two of them shorted out over a year and almost electrocuted me.

 

[Araess]

Well way would be a good light to buy for all my hard and soft coral ?

 

[Araess]

What * lol sorry

 

[Araess]

I'm looking to spend around $100. Led or halides what ever will give me the maximum growth for that price.

 

[mr_X]

you aren't going to get a new fixture for 100.00, no matter what type of lighting you go with. The Taotronics unit that someone mentioned earlier are down to around $129.00.
Remember, halide lamps produce a lot of heat, and must be changed out every 8-12 months, and the lamps are expensive. LEDs are much more efficient, and more powerful IME.
Whoever told you halides grow corals faster than LEDs was incorrect.

 

[Araess]

In thinking about this finnex ray 2, you think that would be a good light ?

 

[Gregcoyote]

Mr-X said it previously. The light that has the most users on this forum seem to like the basic Chinese fixture like I have and many others use. $129 shipped is incredibly cheap. I also use Rapid LED full spectrum fixtures, but they cost twice as much.

 

[Araess]

That's a fair price I really ment to day I don't really want to go I've like 180 Ish. Does anyone have any thoughts on the finnex ray 2 light ? It looks really nice I just want to know if it will support my hard corals.

 

[mr_X]

Not sps IMO. they say on the website it's equal in PAR to 3 T5 lamps...how many watt T5 lamps is not mentioned, and how much PAR total these 3 T5 lamps put out is not mentioned. If I was selling a fixture, I would want to list PAR numbers. IMO, nope.

 

[Gregcoyote]

They are Epistar LEDs, but this looks more like a stunner strip than a sps coral growing light. No mention of wattage or lenses. That makes me uneasy.