Newbie: Need help with lighting for tank !

[txreefguy]

Hi Reef Central,

I was given a 4 foot / 75 gallon tank by a family friend. It came with two 24 inch canopies with fluorescent lights. Its been a FOWLR tank so far but now I want to have soft corals and I'm really confused about lighting requirements.

Here is the info I found on my equipment:

* Bulb: "GE Aqua Rays F15T8-AR-FS 15W"
* Fixture: "24 inch Fluorescent Aquarium reflector, 120 volt 19 watt 60hz"

I did some research and found that the T8 refers to the diameter of the bulb (ex: T12, T10, T8, T5).

Dumb Question:

* Are the bulbs interchangeable ? Will my fixture only take T8 size bulbs ?
* Is 19watts the most that I can put into my current fixture ? I keep reading that I need powerful bulbs with high watts.

I want to keep soft corals but I'm really confused about what lighting I need? All the acronyms I read about (PAR, Lumens, Watts, 10k, 50/50, actinic, LEDs) just let me feeling overwhelmed, please help !!!!

I'm open to upgrading if necessary, I just no idea what to buy.

 

[TokiHacker]

Hi Reef Central,



I was given a 4 foot / 75 gallon tank by a family friend. It came with two 24 inch canopies with fluorescent lights. Its been a FOWLR tank so far but now I want to have soft corals and I'm really confused about lighting requirements.



Here is the info I found on my equipment:



* Bulb: "GE Aqua Rays F15T8-AR-FS 15W"

* Fixture: "24 inch Fluorescent Aquarium reflector, 120 volt 19 watt 60hz"



I did some research and found that the T8 refers to the diameter of the bulb (ex: T12, T10, T8, T5).



Dumb Question:



* Are the bulbs interchangeable ? Will my fixture only take T8 size bulbs ?

* Is 19watts the most that I can put into my current fixture ? I keep reading that I need powerful bulbs with high watts.



I want to keep soft corals but I'm really confused about what lighting I need? All the acronyms I read about (PAR, Lumens, Watts, 10k, 50/50, actinic, LEDs) just let me feeling overwhelmed, please help !!!!



I'm open to upgrading if necessary, I just no idea what to buy.

I'd suggest if you want to stay on the cheaper side just get two Chinese 165w black boxes like mars aqua


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[nereefpat]

* Are the bulbs interchangeable ? Will my fixture only take T8 size bulbs ?
* Is 19watts the most that I can put into my current fixture ? I keep reading that I need powerful bulbs with high watts.

I want to keep soft corals but I'm really confused about what lighting I need? All the acronyms I read about (PAR, Lumens, Watts, 10k, 50/50, actinic, LEDs) just let me feeling overwhelmed, please help !!!!

I'm open to upgrading if necessary, I just no idea what to buy.

Your current fixture can only run t8 bulbs. You will need to upgrade fixtures in order to keep corals.

Your options for lighting that can keep corals would be:

T5. A 4 or 6 bulb t5 fixture that has individual reflectors for each bulb.

LED. Either a 4 ft fixture or two individual units / pendants

Metal halide. Fixture or two units / pendants

A combo of LED and t5 or MH and t5.

 

[Ron Reefman]

The easiest and least expensive way to keep the corals you want (and more) would be MarsAqua led fixtures. You'll need 2 and they cost about $100 each. Consider yourself lucky. If you get really addicted to this hobby you could buy 2 Eco Tech Radion led fixtures for $800 each and the corals wouldn't know the difference. They just have more features for humans to play with! But then lots of people in this hobby drop lots of money on hardware to play with. :headwally:

 

[txreefguy]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the responses. I'll look into the recommendations.

 

[Ron Reefman]

You might want to read this post if you are considering leds.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=25052764&postcount=233

 

[garethwood]

ive got the Chinese 165w led boxes i paid £65 for mine a year ago and cant complain. ive got a condy anemone thats more than happy with it, ive got zoas, duncans, mushrooms, green star polyps, daisy polyps and basically all the usual "beginner" corals that any newbie would get and all growing well.
ide go with this option rather than adapting your tube fixtures any day but thats just my opinion . good luck and welcome to the reef bug : )

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