Hello everyone. I am almost 2 months deep in my first saltwater aquarium. 72 Gallon bowfront with T5-HO 216W, accompanied by a 130W compact fluorescent. I have a skimmer on the back and an eheim canister filter. For fish I have a yellow tang, sailfin tang, lawnmower blenny, 2 damsels, 1 perc., fuzzy dwarf lionfish, some snails, and a few crabs. I currently have about 40 lb of LR, along with a hammerhead coral, 4 leather tree corals, 3 feather dusters, and one HUGE leather toadstool which is split at the bottom and has 2 heads on it. That pretty much does it for now. Let me know what you think or what I should change/do differently. I just did my water tests and everything checked out A ok again!:mrgreen:
New to site and saltwater aquariums!
- Thread starter Aquaman
- Start date
daugherty
part time reefer
i would get an 8 bulb set of t5's it is just as good of light as mh's are and are cheaper to operate i got mine from catalina aquariums
http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/pro...=1447&osCsid=16f6d774bf0f376a0d946ebb79857ed2
http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/pro...=1447&osCsid=16f6d774bf0f376a0d946ebb79857ed2
reeffreak
Reef pro
No upgrade is needed for the corals you have.
If you are wanting to keep clams and sps corals than you will need a T5-HO fixture with individual reflectors or metal halides.
If you are wanting to keep clams and sps corals than you will need a T5-HO fixture with individual reflectors or metal halides.
yote
In Memoriam
Welcome to the reef.
Like was already stated,the lights you have are fine your corals.
But those tangs are eventually going to outgrow that 72.
Like was already stated,the lights you have are fine your corals.
But those tangs are eventually going to outgrow that 72.
RyanG
Reef enthusiast
Stick with what you have until youre ready to try some SPS corals.
lightcs4
Loving to learn
I love my MH lights, but you really have enough light for what you are keeping. I wouldn't upgrade to anything else unless you decide to go with something that needs more light. Then you can look at both MH (I prefer HQI over mogul bulbs) or T5s (Nova Extreme Pro's are nice).
simpleman
Reefing newb
T-5's actually make a very visually appealing tank. I was thinking of doing the opposite and switching to t-5's from halides. Now the LFS is trying to talk me into LEDS. Also tangs tend to fight with similar looking fish. That's why you can keep a blue tang with a yellow tang, but not a yellow with a sailfin. Good choice on keeping the sailfin they are my cool and my favorites.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
I prefer T5s over halides. Especially in a tank your size -- MH will overheat it very quickly.
lightcs4
Loving to learn
I don't prefer T5's, but T5's are more cost effective when it comes time to pay the electric bill. I have read several posts stating they produce less heat, but they really just spread it over a larger area. The MH bulbs are needed when you have a deeper tank (deeper than 24"). T5's are also typically less expensive to purchase than MH bulbs.
