Newbie lighting question

[justanotherfishhead]

Hello, I've been reading on this site but this is my first post. I will post some pics of my tank in the Introductions section soon :) I have a 55 gal and I think I want to upgrade my lighting. I purchased the basic Coralife T5 light with 1 white 26W and 1 actinic 26W when I set it up a few months ago. I thought it looked pretty good compared to the light that came with the tank, but now after reading more about lighting I regret getting that one. I'm looking at the AquaticLife T5 HO light (54W 10,000°K and 54W Actinic for a total of 108W) which seems to have really good reviews and not too expensive - do you think that can support mushrooms and other lower-light corals? Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

I think the combo of those two lights will let you keep several different types of coral just fine.

 

[yote]

+1 the Wimpy Shrimpy.:D

 

[justanotherfishhead]

Thanks! With this lighting setup, when I'm looking at corals on LiveAquaria.com for example, would it be safe to say I could get anything that says "low" for their light requirement? Or also "moderate"? Just researching on there but will pick up from my LFS.

 

[little_fish]

I would stick with low to moderate light corals. I think you will be fine keeping softies and LPS with that light basically.

 

[justanotherfishhead]

Mushrooms are in the softies category, correct? Also just curious what you think of this - a guy at a LFS told me I could keep mushrooms with my current lights, was he totally wrong on this? I know I shouldn't trust what they say anyway ;)

 

[little_fish]

well, you might be able to keep the mushrooms up high with that light, but they will be much happier with both lights. Plus i think mushrooms are about it for the single light. But with the two lights you will have so many more options and i think you will enjoy the larger variety of corals.

And yes, mushrooms are soft corals. :)

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...lil fish has you covered.

 

[Brandy]

I've got a question ....... I am thinking about upgrading from my 29 gal to a 55 gal ....when I do that I would like to be able to keep hard and soft corals ( since I started the saltwater hobby I find I am more interested in hard/soft corals, cocoa worms, clams, and scallops) ...... So my question is what light would you guys recommend would be best for a verity of theses things? What lights do you guys have?

 

[marcah]

a nice t-5 4 bulb fixture would be perfect on a 55.. there are several different ones to choose here are a couple choices
Aquatic Life 48" 4-Lamp 4 x 54W T5 HO Light Fixture - AquaCave
this site is under maintenence but aquatraders.com has a descent t-5..
HO T5 Aquarium Light Fixture: Coralife Lunar Aqualight HO T5 Aquarium Light Fixture

 

[little_fish]

By the way, scallops and coco worms arent photosynthetic and are notoriously hard to keep because our tanks dont tend to produce enough food to keep them alive. But a really good alternative to the coco worms are feather dusters. They come in a variety of beautiful colors and tend to do well in our tank.