Lighting in my tank is it enough for soft corals

reefman316

reefman316

Member
I have a 20 gallon long tank.Now that I've upgraded my lighting on my reef I hope this will be enough to keep some soft corals.
I started with a 20watt 10000k florescent tube and last night I added a 20watt 50/50 6000k daylight and actinic 03 blue which made my reef look even better.The mushroom anemone and feather duster worm that I have in my take so far love the upgrade and look to be opening up even more.Any advice on what other soft corals I could or can add to my reef will be greatly appreciated.
thank you for taking the time to read.
Here are the contents of my tank:
15lbs reef sand
5 lbs live sand
20 lbs samoan branch live rock
1 3 spot damsel
1 3 stripe damsel
1 Royal Gramma
1 mushroom anemone
1 purple feather duster worm
several small soft corals that are growing
as far as Equiptment
1 10000k light
1 50/50 light
1 aquaclear 200 hang on the back filter
1 aquacleat 150 hang on the back filter
1 fluval 204 canister filter
2 small powerheads
1 heater
 
jim672

jim672

Member
Feather dusters don't require lighting to thrive so yours must be responding to something other than your new light. I'm sure it looks better though, with the addition of the 50/50 bulb.
Even with your addition, you're at 2 watts per gallon which is well below what it should be to keep most corals. (There's lots of debate at the watts per gallon rule of thumb but it's a good rough way to judge.) Most corals require at least 5 watts per gallon.....you'd need to upgrade your lighting system to VHO (Very High Output), PC (Power Compact), or MH (Metal Halide). If you're interested in pursuing this, do a search on this site for lighting or check the DIY section.
All that said, without any change, you probably can keep some mushroom corals. They like low
light levels.
Jim
 
twoods71

twoods71

Active Member
If I understand your post you now have 3 20W bulbs? The 10000K, the 50/50, and the actinic.
If correct that would give you 3 WPG but as mentioned earlier the WPG rule is a rough way to judge lighting needs.
Also a 20 long is a fairly shallow tank allowing for any coral placed in the tank to be closer to the light.
IMO the shrooms will be OK.
I can tell you also I had a 29 for awhile with shrooms, polyps and leathers and all were OK under about 3 WPG.
 
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