I need help

[darkstar]

hi i am just starting my first saltwater tank and i dont know if my light is good enough for soft corals.

my tank is 30 gallons and 36Lx12Hx18W and my light is T5HO 39Wx2 one is a 10,000k and the other bulb is a Actinic-03(i am typing what the box says) i know about the the rule of thumb 5watt/1gallon please tell me thats bull


is this good or am i going to have to buy a different one?

[TimH07]

hi i am just starting my first saltwater tank and i dont know if my light is good enough for soft corals.

my tank is 30 gallons and 36Lx12Hx18W and my light is T5HO 39Wx2 one is a 10,000k and the other bulb is a Actinic-03(i am typing what the box says) i know about the the rule of thumb 5watt/1gallon please tell me thats bull


is this good or am i going to have to buy a different one?

Unless you are putting the watts directly into the water I wouldn't worry about that old saying.

That said, what you have shouldn't kill softies but I think anything photosynthetic might want 1-2 more bulbs, or find bulbs with higher PAR rating (instead of running pure actinics run full daylight bulbs... not as appealing to your eye but will keep the coral happy)

[darkstar]

i am sorry but i am just getting in to this so i dont know what that means

what is a PAR rating?

what do you mean about the daylight bulbs

and i forgot to tell you that the box says high output does that make a differnce

please be simple

[Ninong]

i am sorry but i am just getting in to this so i dont know what that means

what is a PAR rating?

PAR = Photosynthetically active radiation (400-700nm). He means that your 10,000K tube has more than twice as much PAR as your actinic tube. It's a long story.

what do you mean about the daylight bulbs

He means your 10,000K tube. He thinks you should add more of those if you add any. Or replace the actinic tube with a 10,000K tube but you probably won't like the coloration of the light as much.

and i forgot to tell you that the box says high output does that make a differnce

please be simple

Yes, that's what the HO stands for. NO stands for normal output and VHO stands for very high output but it's only used for old-fashioned T12 VHO tubes. T5=5/8" diameter. T12=1-1/2" diameter. T8=1" diameter. They actually do make NO T5s but nobody sells those for our hobby.

Forget about that dumb "watts-per-gallon rule" -- especially in a tank that is only 12" tall. However, your options would be improved substantially if you were to double your lighting: two of the 10,000K and two of the actinics.

You can still start out with just what you have now because it should be adequate for many soft corals.

Good luck!



P.S. -- Abbreviations