Starting a new tank soon =)

[yamapi]

Hi everyone! This is my first post and i hope that you experienced hobbyist out there will help me with some of my noobie questions..

I currently have a 3ft fish-only tank and i am thinking of downgrading it to a 2ft tank because it is taking up too much space. I intend to use a tank given to me which is 2ft and it used to be a freshwater tank. I will want to use back my old filter, powerhead and skimmer for this new tank. I am only thinking of using the lighting unit which comes with it.

I intend to change the bulb inside because its old. So can someone recommend me wat type of lighting would be good? Intending to keep some easy-to-keep corals. Anyway the lighting can only hold 1 bulb so pls tell me the recommended specifications(or at least the minimum required specification cos trying to keep cost low) for the bulb that i'll have to buy.

Sorry i am not sure whether this is the right place to post this and also apologising for my 'long-windedness'...

Your help is appreciated =D

[isaac]

T5 is good for most soft corals, google or ebay it

[yamapi]

i see...so what colour should the lighting be? blue or white? and can i buy just any T5 lightbulb of any watt?

Thanks;;

[yamapi]

OK, finally got my new tank filled with water haha. I have came up with a plan to set up my mini reef aquarium consisting of only easy to keep corals. Here is my schedule:

week1: let water run for a week until salinity stables
week2: put in live rocks and wait for 3 weeks
week5: add in clean-up crew like snails and shrimps
week6: add in corals like polyps and mushrooms and intervebrates like tubeworms
week8: add fishes

Is my schedule ok? and one more thing....i just mixed the salt with tap water without any declorinator added in i asked the LFS owner on how to mix the salt and that's what he instructed me to do.. But i just seen a website stating that we should use declorinated water or RO water when mixing with salt.. I know its my fault for not reading up enough but...is my water alright to keep things in it? Will there be any negative effects from using tapwater? (didn't know about this because i filled my first tank with saltwater bought directly from the LFS)