New to the site: 30" Lighting question... T5 fixture and 2x 96watt Power Compacts

[yokomo963]

Hey guys,


First off, I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm new to this website and just registered tonight. I'm Eric and I'm an 18 year old college student. I started off my tank about 2.5 years ago and just went overboard with it too soon due to the lack of patience. All the coral, livestock, and inverts died in the tank unfortunately. It was always kept running though, then about 2 months ago, the odysea 24" 2x 65 watt power compacts died on it, i thought it was the bulbs but both bulbs didn't turn on. I have no idea what happened to it. Looked at the replacement bulb prices at the LFS and yea... that didn't happen, it would've almost as cost as much as a new fixture!

Background:
Anyway, i just finished my freshmen year at iowa state and when I came home, I decided I want to start this fish tank again, but after speaking to my dad about it and what happened last time, we came to the conclusion that it was going to become a Fish with Live Rock tank only. So we went to our local petland fish store to browse what they had avaliable there. We got there and proceeded to purchase a cleaner crew consisting of 12 red leg hermits, 3 peppermint shrimp(to take care of the 6 or 7 aptasia), 2 hawaian skunk cleaners, 4 astria snails. Then we went to the lighting section and saw these coralife 2x 18w T5 slim fixtures for like 52 bucks. So we bought that as well, it had a 10k and actinic bulb in it.

So my tank has been running pretty well for about 3 weeks now and we decided to add 2 gold stripped maroon's to the tank. And then i did some reading on what kind of coral can survive in low light enviroments so I also got 2 free kenya tree frags that someone locally trimmed off from their tank, one purple and neon green mushroom. They've actually been doing well, the kenya trees are healing nicely and the mushroom has opened up fully and is looking great.

The question...:
So my main question is, Is this T5 lighting sufficent for my tank? I would love to get some xenia and hammerheads, frogspawn... I've been reading up on anenome's for the clownfish but it seems like everyone says you need MH lights for that. Also, i do have a 36" Coralife 2x 96watt Power compact sitting around. For some reason, both light bulbs do not work and when i took the bulbs out, the florecent tubes seperated from the plastic connector part on the bulb. The fans still work as well as the LED moonlights on the fixture. Does anyone know if this just requires new bulbs or is the balast shot on the fixture? If it's the bulb, i can replace the bulbs and have lots of lighting for my 30gal. Here's the thing I'm not sure about, thru my research, i've read that don't go by the watts per gallon rule as different lights have different PAR ratings and how deep the light can penetrate through the water. I also read that Power Compacts are the weakest as far as penetration goes... So would my 36 T5 setup be better than the 192 watt power compact? I've also thought about just getting another one of the 52 dollar T5 fixtures and have 2 of them on my tank with a total wattage of 72 watts of T5 Lighting.

If both the lighting fixtures i have won't work for my goals, i've also looked into the Oddesea 18" MH and T5 combo setup for 99 dollars from aquatraders...
Odyssea Metal Halide PendantMy main concern about this light is, since my tank is 30" wide and this light is only 18", will it only provide sufficent light to the middle of my tank and not to the 2 sides? This is my alternative if my lighting right now simply won't cut it, but i really don't want to buy a new light setup.


Please don't come saying just buy a new fixture or switch to MH, i'm a college kid and simply cannot drop 500+ on a good MH setup or even LED. I have a very limited budget to spend on the stuff. Voice your advice/opinions on my questions please! If the Power Compact I have just needs new bulbs, i'd be willing to buy them and swap them in, but i don't wanna spend 50 bucks on new bulbs and then find out the ballasts are shot, cuz i looked the prices up for replacement ones and they are 60 dollars each, at that point, i could just buy a new fixture.


Please let me know what you guys think, any help will be greatly appreciated.

-Eric

[Evie]

Hi Eric! Your T-5s should be fine. After you acclimate your corals to their new lighting for a week or so, you could place them in the upper portion of your tank where your light shines its brightest. We decided not to use metal halides because we are in a hotter climate area and MHs would send our temperature way up! Not to mention the power bill! LOL! Think about placing some lower light corals in the lower half.
The other thing I would strongly recommend is joining a local aquarium club. The clubs I belong to have raffles, auctions and coral swaps. We have won, swapped and bought about $600.00 worth of stuff while spending only about $50 bucks! Yeah, its a true money saver! There are guest speakers at many of the meetings who are very knowledgeable experts in marine ecosystems, very interesting! Most of them meet once a month so its not a big time commitment, and its well worth it! Enjoy!

[yokomo963]

Hi Eric! Your T-5s should be fine. After you acclimate your corals to their new lighting for a week or so, you could place them in the upper portion of your tank where your light shines its brightest. We decided not to use metal halides because we are in a hotter climate area and MHs would send our temperature way up! Not to mention the power bill! LOL! Think about placing some lower light corals in the lower half.
The other thing I would strongly recommend is joining a local aquarium club. The clubs I belong to have raffles, auctions and coral swaps. We have won, swapped and bought about $600.00 worth of stuff while spending only about $50 bucks! Yeah, its a true money saver! There are guest speakers at many of the meetings who are very knowledgeable experts in marine ecosystems, very interesting! Most of them meet once a month so its not a big time commitment, and its well worth it! Enjoy!

hmm, you think so? I'm picking up a red sea pom pom xenia colony tomorrow as well as a good size frag of green star polyps... they will be going in the upper half as well... Then hopefully sometime next week i can get a nice colony of zoas and hopefully fit that somewhere in the upper/middle the tank as well..

What other low light corals can really go in the lower half of my tank? I was just planning on getting a nice looking feather duster and a few good looking mushrooms.

My birthday is comin early july so i think i'm gonna ask for another one of the exact same 2x 18watt t5 fixtures that way i'll be more safe with 72 watts of t5 lighting. Using 2 10k daylight bulbs and 2 actinics.

[Original Fin]

Hi Eric,

All of the corals you've mentioned can be prolific growers. In a tank that small, GSP, xenia and mushrooms can take over an entire aquascape relatively quickly, and may outcompete your zoas for space if you're not careful about their placement. GSP and xenia can be kept in check, if desired, by placing them on rock "islands" where they cannot easily spread to the other rocks in the tank.

HTH, good luck, and enjoy!

[yokomo963]

Hi Eric,

All of the corals you've mentioned can be prolific growers. In a tank that small, GSP, xenia and mushrooms can take over an entire aquascape relatively quickly, and may outcompete your zoas for space if you're not careful about their placement. GSP and xenia can be kept in check, if desired, by placing them on rock "islands" where they cannot easily spread to the other rocks in the tank.

HTH, good luck, and enjoy!

thats why i'm choosing the corals i am. They grow well and relatively hardy. Though the pom pom's i picked up don't seem to be doing very well... one stalk is dead already.

i just need to decide on lights...

[Original Fin]

Xenia is like that...hit or miss. It either grows like crazy, or withers away. Not necessarily an indicator of poor water quality either.