newbie!

[littlereef]

My husband and I purchased a 25 gal saltwater tank this summer. We have 2 green chromis, 1 royal gramma, an antenna gobie & pistol shrimp, a cleaner shrimp a few snails and hermit crabs. We recently put in a red mushroom coral, a green fuzzy mushroom and a green star coral. Everyone seems to be happy but our red mushroom is kind of folded /pointed in the middle. When we purchased it, it was totally flat. Just wondering if that's normal or not? I attached a picture.

 

[Cheeser]

looks good to me. usually theyll shrivel up or shrink if not happy or float around your tank. what kinda lights do you have? its probably just getting used to your tank.

 

[littlereef]

we have T5 lights

 

[Cheeser]

they should be fine. how many bulbs? how long have u had those mushrooms? it could take weeks for them to open up all the way.

 

[Waddi]

Looks like it is splitting. Tis what mine did.

 

[littlereef]

bulbs: we have a blue one and a white one. We've had it for about 2 weeks

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

That really isnt enough light to keep corals, it would probably do much better with at least a 4 bulb fixture

 

[littlereef]

Thanks! We were wondering about that. We didnt have any coral when we purchased the whole set up. The light in the picture attached is what we have. It has one bulb that is white - T5 HO 10000k 18W BA and one bulb that is blue - T5 HO 420/460 18W AC.
Being new to this ....should we just get another light fixture like this one? Would that be efficent?

 

[Cheeser]

i would invest in an led fixture.

 

[Smitty]

Welcome aboard...they have you covered.

 

[littlereef]

Why the LED lights? Are the t5s not ok? Whars the difference or benefit of led?

 

[Cheeser]

t5s are good. but i would say to upgrade to a 4 bulb t5 rather than buy another 2 bulb fixture. but if ur gonna be spending money anyway u should get leds cuz they are more powerful, use less energy, transmit less heat....also the t5 bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months or so and it can add up. usually the bulbs are around 10-15 bucks for 1 bulb. so u can spend up to 120 bucks on bulbs alone or more if your replacing them like you should.

 

[Becky]

Hey there, welcome to the forums :wave: