lighting in tall tanks

[mike tv]

i want to use 130w of PC (2 5050s day/act and day/purple) and two clamp on daylights in the back corners of my 20 gal tall

does the 3-5 watts per gallon to even think about soft corals still apply to a tall tank? with 20gals ill be over 7wpg, should i be okay to think about reefing without an MH? can this be done? what would and would not survive on this lighting if i were to have a mountain of rock and fairly high flow near the peak of the mountain

its a current usa fixture with 2led moon lights and 2x65w PCs that ill hopefully getting

i also posted this in the lighting forum, but thats probably a little advanced of a forum for this simple question

 

[abulgin]

That should be more than enough for softies.

 

[mike tv]

i was thinking softies and zoos
but i just love the LPS, would many of them survive? they're said by vendors to need low light and flow, but i never trust anyone who has anything to gain by telling me anything

 

[jdiddy8384]

If i were you i would go with T-5s. If you have good reflectors on them you can keep pretty much anything and they use less energy than a metal halide. Good selection of bulbs and colors too.

 

[mike tv]

t5s would have actually been my first choice, but i think i've found a decent light in the selling forum for cheap (assuming it doesnt sell to someone else before payday) and i don't particularly want to over invest in my bedroom tank when i'll be moving in a couple years and wanting to spend several thousand on a large tank.
if these will work, id be fairly pleased, since a 4 or a 6 bulb t5 set up begins to get quite pricy

 

[ILoveReefer]

I think the pc fixture will work great for softies and zoos.

 

[abulgin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13266108#post13266108 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdiddy8384
If i were you i would go with T-5s. If you have good reflectors on them you can keep pretty much anything and they use less energy than a metal halide. Good selection of bulbs and colors too.

T5s don't use less energy than MHs. A watt is a watt is a watt. 150W of T5s uses exactly the same amount of energy as a 150W MH.

The benefit to T5s is that they aren't point sources of light, so the heat that's produced is spread over the length of a bulb rather than concentrated at one point (and, with MH the heat is directed downwards towards the water, whereas with T5s the heat is radiated 360 degrees). Generally, this means less cooling requirement--whether by means of a fan(s) or a chiller.

With that said, in a 20 gallon tank, a MH would be overkill. In tank like a 20g, you can grow with T5s anything a MH can grow, if you have individual reflectors (and probably without them too).
As stated, you could get away with either CFs or T5s. I would pick T5s over CFs just because they maintain their spectral integrity for about twice as long as CFs (12 months vs. 6 months), so you're changing bulbs less and saving money. Moreover, you can illuminate more of the tank, although in a 20g, that factor is pretty irrelevant. But if you already have CFs, I would go with that and spend your money on corals.

(On a totally unrelated note, jdiddy8384 I think your signature line is not only disrespectful but inappropriate for this site--many members are kids here)

 

[mike tv]

abulgin
that is the second time you have told me exactly what i wanted to hear.
and how often does that happen, especially when researching an upcoming tank.
thank you kindly, sir

 

[abulgin]

No problemo. FYI, I keep Duncans and shrooms in my 30g cube (about 17" high) with 2x24W 10,000K T5s and 2x24W actinic T5s.