Mushroom Coral Minimum Light Requirements

[lionlover]

I have a 75 gallon FOWLR and i would like to start to convert it to a reef. I don't have a lot of money for lighting however and i thought i would start with a few mushrooms. I currently have 1 40W NO flourescent light for the tank. Any suggestions for lighting?

 

[drummereef]

I would say between 2-4 watts/gallon for mushrooms. They don't need much light at all but you'll probably need to bump up what you have.

 

[jbittner]

maybe two of these

Power Compact

 

[bobt2]

260 watts of pc will do fine.same depth as my 55 and the mushrooms do great

 

[lionlover]

I was wondering about a T-5 fixture they are selling at my LFS. it is a 2 54W bulb fixture. (I heard t-5 were better than other flourescent and i was wondering if this would do?

 

[bobt2]

i dont know, probably fine. i have a 6x54 t-s over my 75 and it's way to much for mushrooms. they turn white and shrink

 

[iamquockie]

i have 4x54 t5's on my 60 and its still too much for shrooms on the sand. 25"+ away from the lights.

 

[Ryanqk]

is 2x65w pc (one 10,000k daylight, the other 50/50 10,000k) in a 30gl good enough for soft and LPS corals?

 

[greystreet41]

a lot of shrooms grow in shaded areas so I don't think you have uch to worry about.

 

[jbittner]

my 4 x 54 wt t5 (on a 55) is great for all my mushrooms except my green yuma (moves down to the bottom). Everything else grows like crazy

 

[Mac1999]

Is a 32 fluorescing watt good for mushrooms

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Lionlover, T5's are great lights but you have to replace the bulbs every 9 months or so. You will be cheaper in the long run to buy one of the Chinese Black Box 165w full spectrum adjustable lights from Ebay. They are about $90 or so shipped. This would be your best option and you don't have bulbs to change and it's enough light to add pretty much anything you want.

 

[johnike]

My mushroom prop tank has a 23W PC 6500K floodlight over it.