enough lighting reach bottom?

[didz04]

Hi,

Here is my lighting that should all be here in a weeks time. 4 Tubes altogether.
T5 marine white x2 - 24W
T8 arcadia marine white - 18W
T8 marine blue - 18W

My question is,
do I have enough lighting for LPS corals even if I placed them right near the top?
If I do then can they be placed on the floor of the tank?

My tank is 18" high. The light will be placed a maximum of 2" above water surface level.

Thanks

 

[didz04]

If I bought a reflectors for all 4 tubes then would that help boost some more light to the bottom of the tank?

 

[didz04]

which corals would I be able to keep? bump!

 

[didz04]

any suggestions??

 

[karsseboom]

maybe some shrooms but i would be pretty scared to try lps with those t8s there not very bright and olny 18w.

 

[didz04]

How many more T5s would I need? The 2 T5's will be the main lights and the T8's are there so I could leave them on as moonlights. Both T8s have a switch together and same with the T5's have one switch together so after adding a timer I will be able to turn the T5s on and leave the T8's as moonlights.

Thanks

 

[karsseboom]

4 t5 would do great.

 

[didz04]

Thanks my next option in time was to add another 2, was looking to just keep soft corals at the mo but wanted to know if its possible to venture into lps with my current lighting.

I was wondering I have quite a few heads of alveopora only 1" across a rock, Ive had for 10 months now in my nano and recently upgraded and its not completely bleached and died off yet. Would it start growing more as they only need moderate lighting?

THanks

 

[capecoral]

18" does not seem that far to light.

 

[didz04]

Originally I was going to setup a 12" shallow reef so with T5s I could keep it a sps setup but some said that a few certain fish can be stunned with the water level too low.
If I build up the rock work more then I should be fine keeping some lower lighting sps corals near the top?

 

[sahin]

Yes you can. Most people who say you cannot have never tried to; have no experience. They just assume. I have kept softies and LPS under 2xT5 and 1xT8 for well over a year. Nothing died. They grew and had very nice colour. I also kept a few SPS frags right beneath the waterline.

If you can get a four T5 setup then that would be better, but if you are stuck with the above then I can assure you they will do fine. In fact if you search google there are a few tanks with SPS corals run all on T8 lighting. I came across such a tank a week ago. The guy who had the tank also had a very large and successful SPS reef also.

Wanted to add that I had a 12" deep tank. You yours being taller will mean you will need to mount the corals higher etc and ensure water clarity is kept high.

 

[didz04]

Thats great news, for me lol. I can add another 2 t5 lighting system to the tank but might experiment and see for my self how well Lps corals do. If there fine then I'll try SPS near the top.

By the way which brand are you using for your light tubes? It may vary from keeping LPS and SPS corals in my setup.

 

[didz04]

Sooner or later I will look into another twin t5 unit.

 

[ptr13]

How about LEDs,the only light I have known with great penetration and cheaper to run on cost. I am sold on these guys,they grow allsorts of corals well,make sure you buys crees in buying LEDs 3 watts.

 

[didz04]

Ive never really thought about running a reef with just LEDs. How many would you need considering they are 3w each and how deep do they penetrate in a 18" deep tank? Any threads on here thats given some good info on LEDs?

Thanks

 

[didz04]

You don't need to replace them do you?

 

[karsseboom]

LEDs are very expensive even if you DIY..