lighting

[mnewsom]

I am new to the hobby and need some suggestions on lighting.
I have a 55 gallon tank with 20 gallon sump. Have not gotten wet yet. am looking at t5 lighting. want to have as a reef tank and would like the possibility of keeping hard corals. will t5 be enough light? am trying to keep top of tank as sleak as possible and working on limited budget. thanks for any help

 

[Mariner]

TO REEF CENTRAL AND THE ALABAMA REEFERS FORUM
Lots of folks are using T-5 and having success with hard corals. (I don't happen to be a T-5 user, but there are some around). As long as you have enough wattage/PAR and good reflectors, you should be fine. Maybe someone who is using them will chime in.
HTH,
Mariner

 

[mnewsom]

thanks for the welcome
what is correct wattage for standard 55 gallon tank?

 

[DrHank]

I've got 4 - 54 W T5s on my 110 with LPS that are doing fine. I've got a white bubble 1/3 of the way down, a moon half way down, a Frogspawn 2/3 of the way down, and a candy cane on the bottom.

I may have to move the candy cane up some because it doesn't seem to be opening fully but all the rest are doing well. The only thing that I have to admit that I do miss is the shimmer you get from MH.

Another member of our group is running 4 - 54s on her 75 and even her SPS are doing well. I may add 2 more T5s later which should let me keep anything I want. I'm not sure I want to add any SPS but if I do it will be on the top 1/3 rd of the rockwork.

I'd recommend the same set-up (4 - 54w T5s) for a 55. Then you could keep whatever you want. My bet is that you'll want a 75 when you get a chance.

 

[andyjd]

excellent T5 lighting advice from www.reefgeek.com give em a call or drop them an email.