Sufficient lighting for frags?

[SarahE]

Hey all.

My tank has been pretty much fish only for a couple of years. I tried to buy a couple of frags early on before I was ready, and they didn't make it.

I would like to try again, but before I invest in some frags, I want to know what kind of lighting I need to get.

I'm sure my currently lighting isn't sufficient. It's a single bulb, with a good range of light, but not HO. (I went to look up the wattage, but I can't find the box for the bulb. I'll repost if/when I can find it.)

My tank is a 29-tall (31'' long, 12'' wide, and 18'' tall). The current fixture holds a single 24'' bulb. If need be, I am open to buying a new fixture, of course it would still have to be small enough to fit on the tank.

I just haven't had experience with corals, and there are so many options with lighting that I don't know what to go with. Also a lot of lighting advice seems to be for larger tanks, and I'm not sure how that would translate to my smaller tank.

Thanks so much!

 

[dunc101]

What type of corals would you like to keep? soft corals, lps corals, sps corals, all of the above?

You could also try NPS corals but I believe they can be pretty difficult to keep (they don't require light).

SPS corals require the most light and soft corals require the least amount of light.

As far as fixtures, you need to do some research on what you would like to use. MH, T5, or LED's are your best options. It will also depend on your budget the type of light that is best for you.

MH = light shimmer, not very energy efficient, and gives off a lot of heat (you may need a chiller).
T5 = more energy efficient than MH, but no light shimmer. Good fixtures for this is ATI (top of the line, or T5 tek models).
LED's = newest thing in the hobby with somewhat mixed 'reviews.' Very energy efficient + light on your power bill. You will pay a lot up front, however, for a good fixture. Two very good LED models at the moment is AI sol, and the Radion. I kind of wish I would have bought a few AI sol's myself, but I couldn't justify the $1300 up front cost for 3 fixtures and a controller.

With a good quality fixture of any type of the above, you shouldn't have a problem keeping any type of the corals (soft, lps, or sps). If you get a T5, I would do a 4 bulb fixture. You could probably do a 24 inch Tek fixture, put it over the middle and place your SPS corals in the middle of the tank and the soft corals towards the edges.

 

[nanojg]

I dont understand why so many people think soft corals need the least amount of light. Most leathers do best with more light than even sps! Lps and mushrooms on the other hand tend to do better with less light