Lighting for my Nano Reef tank

[immortality6000]

I am looking for a light for my 5 Gallon Nano Reef Tank. I am not looking for anything to expense but I am having trouble finding a light fixture that will fit on a Tank that is 16 inches. I found the Coralife Mini Aqualight T5, but I dont want to put glass on the top of the tank so it will not fit(to small). Any suggestions?

 

[chichimom79]

I would go with a PAR38 bulb. Something like... LEDs - PAR Bulbs - Rapid LED (The one in the middle)

 

[immortality6000]

I was looking at those bulbs bulbs but I cant see spending almost 100 bucks on just the light for such a small tank. Any other suggestions?

 

[chichimom79]

It's really not that bad when you consider how often you have to change the bulbs on a T-5 or metal halide system. It's the best thing I could come up with for the money on a small system.

 

[Northstar24]

I was looking at those bulbs bulbs but I cant see spending almost 100 bucks on just the light for such a small tank. Any other suggestions?

Do you want to keep corals? one of these bulbs will probably be the cheapest way for you to do so. You'll end up spending half that on an incandescent fixture, and it will use more energy to run, and you'll have to replace the bulbs twice a year....

Lighting for a reef tank is easily the most expensive part of this hobby. I hung LED's over my 6 foot 180, and it cost a fortune

 

[immortality6000]

Yes, I want to keep corals and like 2 or 3 fish. So I found BOOSTLED to have this same light. My other question is...There are 3 Optic lenses to choose from. Which one do I want? And then color combonation is my choice

 

[Northstar24]

What are the dimensions of the tank? I'd aim for 60 or 80 degree optics. The larger the degree on the optic, the wider the spread of light, the smaller the degree on the optic, tge narrower spread. 60 degree will probably work best for most small tanks

Color is really more of a preference thing. Do you like the deeper blue you see on some reef tanks or more of the white look?

 

[immortality6000]

The tank is 16 x 8 1/2. Just a 5 Gallon or 5.5 gallon. I like a Blue tint but more bright light then blue color