Frag tank Lighting

[maroun.c]

Hi,
My frag tanks is only 18x18x20 so I'm limited witht he length of the lights. T5 is not available in this length around here Compact lfluorescents are available but still struggling to find their fixtures. so I'm limited to regular marine fluoresecents and actinics which I'm currently using and a max 70W MH as I don't want to add too much heat.
Now the issue with the halides is that 70 W marine (14 or 20K) are not avialable here and I will not be able to get any before 2-3 months. Do you think that using a regular MH Bulb (5600K I guess) would be fine for Softies and few LPS? I could supplement it with Actinics to give it a bluer look or will it be of no use for the corals? Do we usee the 10 14 and 20K just for their look or do they have a lot of advantage over the daylight 5600 K?
Thanks

 

[maroun.c]

Any info anyone?

 

[dzeadow]

from what I understand 6500k would be the the best spectrum bulb for growth of the corals, they'll just not look as nice color wise. You'd definitely have to add actinic supplimentation to get a better look out of them otherwise they'll more than likely turn out drab and brown but be huge... I'm not sure what to tell you about that low on the K rating... 5100k is what a lot of people use in the fuge's to grow macro. I see you're in Lebanon, I was going to say that Current USA makes an 18" t5 fixture, its not the greatest but would work, but is probably pretty hard to come across over there. I'd probably do the 1 6500k MH and maybe 2-4 vho actinics if you can find them to get the color. I'm not an expert so hopefully someone else will chime in!

 

[nu2reefva]

actually they just came out check this out

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewI...lt1&utm_content=mdhflb1lt1&utm_campaign=mdhfl

 

[SWaquariast]

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=13637

You could use the 20" and a just the mounting legs to fit onto an 18" so you would just slide them in and inch on each leg.