What kind of lighting for my first salt tank (20gal.)

T

thecaptain

Reefing newb
I'm starting a 20 gallon salt tank soon, but I just can't seem to decide on what kind of lighting fixture to go with. I am trying to keep it as inexpensive as possible, while still going with something that can support some corals. This will be my first attempt at saltwater, so I don't know much about keeping corals. I could sure use a bit of advice on choosing the right type of lighting, or even a specific fixture. Here are some corals I like, that I think might be alright under something less than MH, but I'm probably not correct on all of them.
Plate corals, torch corals, various polyps, some softies (red silk, leathers, colt coral), Sun polyp coral, and Ricordea Mushrooms.
What kind of lighting would be sufficient for these corals? I know their needs will vary.

What kind of corals could this fixture support? Since the tank will be a 20L, which is only 12" deep (I think...?), I thought this may be sufficient. But I know I could be totally wrong.
http://www.aquariumguys.com/current-nova-extreme-24.html

Also, what are your opinions on a protein skimmer for this tank? Should I try to get by without, since it's only 20g?
 
There aren't really any good nano skimmers.Best bet to stay on top of water changes.

That light should be good enough for the corals you listed.Stay with soft corals and LPS corals.Avoid non-photosynthetic corals,those will need to be spot fed often which leads to water quality problems in small tanks.That includes the sun polyps and carnation(dendro).Sorry,I'm not sure what the nickname ''red silk coral'' is referring too.
 
T5s would be perfect for a 20 gallon tank. It will be super difficult to keep your temperature low enough in a small tank with halides. Halides are really only recommended for larger, deeper tanks. All of the corals you listed need low to moderate light and would be fine under T5s. Like freak said, the sun coral is non photosynthetic and should be kept shaded, but are very difficult to maintain since you need to hand feed them every day or every other day.
 
If you have not bought your tank yet I would recommend that you seriously consider a larger tank. Larger bodies of water are much more forgiving than smaller bodies when you make mistakes or forget to perform maintenance or over stock or over feed or many other things. Even most people with larger tanks add another tank attached to their main tanks which increase the gallonage. Learning to establish and maintain a larger tank can be difficult , where learning to establish and run a small tank is much more exacting and challenging. It obviously can be done but one must remember that one has to respond much quicker to developing problems in a small tank than in a larger one. The simple way to look at it is "the solution to pollution is dilution," but a little tank offers little volume for dilution. Please do not let me discourage you though as there are people on this forum with small tanks that are doing fine. I just do not recommend small tanks for people new to reef aquariums as it is to easy to lose new reefers if they start having many problems.
 
Well, I just don't have the time, space, or money for a big tank right now. My original plan was 55 gallons minimum - I even looked at several 90+ gallon tanks. I think I'm going to stick with this plan, but I'm not going into it on impulse. I've been planning and reading for over 6 months now. So I'm just going to get into it slowly, and be really careful with maintenance. Although this is my first saltwater, I have several freshwater tanks, so I'm not a total noob. I really do appreciate the advice though; I totally understand that a smaller tank is a greater risk.
 
Those would work fine for a 20 gallon tank. They are PCs, so they aren't as good as T5s, but you could keep anything you want under those lights, except clams, anemones and SPS coral.
 
I was thinking that would be better than T5... this lighting deal has always confused me. The PC light is 2x65, while the T5 fixture I was looking at (link is in my original post) is 2x24. So it seems like the PC would be better... am I missing something?
 
With T-5s you get more usable light per watt.Something about the diameter of the bulb along with some other factors that I have no idea about.
 
So even the 2x24 T5 would be better than 2x65 PC? Could I still keep polyps, softies, plate corals, and mushrooms under then PC, or should I just stick with the T5?
 
Where your going to see a difference,is PC bulbs need to be replaced every 6 to 8 months.With T-5s,your looking at 12 to 18 months.
Plus with the T-5s,you should be able to keep all BUT the more light intensive stonies and anemones.
 
130 watts of PC is somewhat better than 48 watts of T5.....not better than 96w of T5(4 bulbs).

2x24w T5-HO
Stay with soft corals like the one's you mention earlier.Possibly some LPS if placed high up on the rocks.No SPS corals,clams,anemones.

4x24w T5-HO
All corals,light intensive corals may need to be off the sandbed like SPS corals.

130w PC
Soft corals and LPS corals.Not enough light for SPS,anemones and clams.
 
Okay, thanks for the help. So I guess I'll go with the T5s. As far as T5s go, are they all similar? Is the fixture in the link I posted at the beginning of this thread good as far as T5s go?
 
even if you wanted to get one that has four bulbs or get two fixtures that have two bulbs in them and you would be able to keep anything in there just a thought.
 
Not all T5 are created equal.Some have individual reflectors while others have a single reflector for all the bulbs.Some include lunar lights while others don't.Some even includes bulbs while others you will need to purchase the bulbs separately.

The Current fixture you linked to is a good quality fixture.Consider going one step higher and getting the Current Nova Extreme with the 4 bulbs,lunar lights and tank risers.
 
I normally do Halide but the only halide I would consider on a 20 gallon would be a 70 watt and the cost of that would not make sense because you would still need to supplement the halide with T-5 or PC's to get a good viewable lighting system. Your best bang for your buck would be as suggested by Reeffreak. For some reason he stays well in tune with lighting for small tanks even though he keeps a medium and a large tank. Glad he does though, because I do not keep up to well with small tank lighting, it has changed greatly in the last ten years or so.
 
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