Need some help.

[gavinsepanik]

I am setting up a new 10 gallon fowlr (only 2 juv. occ. clowns) and i was wondering what type of lighting I should use. I might want to add xenia down the road. What Lighting would be sufficient for this setup?

Thanks!

 

[jon99]

For fish and something easy and not very light demanding like Xenia, you can start with regular t-8 fluorescent lighting. 4 tubes over the 10gal will be plenty for Xenia to grow. If you think you might get more into coral down the road, skip the t-8 and just go ahead and get a t-5 fixture. If money's not an object, get some led's. More controllable so you can dial in the exact color of lighting that suite your needs/style.

 

[ericarenee]

For fish and something easy and not very light demanding like Xenia, you can start with regular t-8 fluorescent lighting. 4 tubes over the 10gal will be plenty for Xenia to grow. If you think you might get more into coral down the road, skip the t-8 and just go ahead and get a t-5 fixture. If money's not an object, get some led's. More controllable so you can dial in the exact color of lighting that suite your needs/style.

a reg t8 fixute is good BUT NOT A REG BULB for anything in a marine tank.
Get a t5 fixture and 10k bulbs . Led lights are OK For a small tank but get some that are of a fixed spectrum that have been tried and proven. not something where user adjustments can cause wrong spectrum.. Lights that The user can tinker with the spectrum. (unless you are a lighting expert with measurement equip) Should be Avoided at all cost..
especially cheap led lights.
Get what is tried and true so you know your money is going to something that works.

 

[CStrickland]

I would think the absolute cheapest fluorescent bulb that they sell for turtle tanks or whatever (T8 prolly) would be perfectly fine for fish and xenia. There's a really good chance that in a couple months you'll be upgrading to a tank that's big enough for a mature clown pair, and you might decide that it makes sense to go for something that can fit more fish too. Thats when I would buy proper lights, they don't keep resale value very well.

 

[jminick2]

I would never spend money on a t5 fixture for a tank like that, buy LEDs ull never have to change any bulbs, you won't have heat issues. i would get like a kessil 160.

 

[tennesseebob]

meh, i would do LED, but i wouldn't spend any real money on it, for a 10g you could light it with almost anything, so i would get a cheap chinese light with a dimmer.

 

[gavinsepanik]

Thanks for all the responses. I am gonna go with aqueons modular leds 10k because they are cheap and efficient for my purposes.