Reef lighting question

[Clownfish25]

I am moving my 38 gallon into a 55 gallon aquarium. I just purchased a 36 inch t5 light. My question is. Will this light work better for coral than the compact fluorescents I have currently.

The pic is the T5 I just bought

 

[CorallineAlgae]

It should. They put out less heat and more lumens per watt than PCs.

 

[Clownfish25]

Cool thanks, I don't think it comes with moonlights just a white and actinic T5

 

[Rutrag]

You'd do much better if you could upgrade to a 4 or 6 bulb fixture.

 

[mr_X]

Agreed. That's not much for a reef tank. I would like for a 4 or 6 lamp unit that's 48" long.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

That all depends on the corals. He can have a great looking soft coral reef tank with those lights. Plus, I love the look of a tank that's more centrally lit than uniformly lit. Gives it a great effect. Just gotta match the right animals to the light. Not everybody needs SPSs.

 

[mr_X]

I guess it's a matter of opinion, but I would not want dark corners and quite limiting lighting over my reef tank.

 

[Clownfish25]

Just got my 75g tank today. It came with a coral life 48in T5 fixture with 1 10000k bulb and 1 actinic. Will that be enough to make my frogspawn, Xenia, colt, and mushrooms happy?

Also I have a green open brain coral coming in next month will this be enough, or should I use the 48in light plus a 36in t5 1white 1actinic that I bought off eBay ?

 

[mr_X]

I would use both. it's a long way to the sand bed for 2 lamps.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Agreed. A 75 is way deep from front to back for 2 bulbs to handle. Plus it gives you more options for bulb combinations later on to get just the look you like.