Lighting question

barreltwist

barreltwist

Member
Hello,
I have a corner bowfront 36 gallon tank, that I have had for about 5.5 years. I have had great luck with it and have a couple tomato clowns and some live rock. It has been mostly a FOWLR tank. I want to get a couple easy to care for soft corals but need to get new lighting. I just have the standard lighthood it came with. It is 23" by 5.5" with two 18" lights that are only 15W. I have been looking onlline trying to find something that will fit a 23 x 6" space. Any suggestions? My main problem is, since it is a triangular tank, the hood sits on the glass and the hoods with legs wouldb't work since they can't sit on the edge of the tank. I may have to modify a hood, but figured I would check here first to see if anyone knows of hoods out there that I wouldn't have to modify. The sides are 24", the widest part is 34" (then the bow front extends out more), and it is 19.5" tall.
 
blackjacktang

blackjacktang

Active Member
if your going to keep low light corals like shrooms and polyps, you might want T5 or maybe strong PC. If you want to go for the bigger stuff suck as anenome and sps (hard to keep) then you might want Metal Halide. Metal Halide you can keep ANY coral. T5 your limited.
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
look into a mh pendant .250 watt for the tank and you are pretty much set for anything.you could also add a compact overhang light for when the mh isnt on.it clamps to the backside top of the tank and hangs a few inches over the water and wont block the mh.
my next tank will have this set up.
 
barreltwist

barreltwist

Member
I am looking at t5 because MH are spendy and suck more electricity. Do they make suspended lights or would I need to add hangers? That sounds like a good potential since I have an the triangular tank and it's tough to find a hood.
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
yea the mh are more cash and the bulbs dont last as long but you cant get the water shimmer with t5.but its up to you .i dont have experience with t5.i have always went mh.i run a tank with 3 250 watt mh and another with 2 175watt.my home electric bill is $160 a month with 4 tanks going so i dont think they suck that much more juice.
 
ibew41

ibew41

Active Member
I have the same tank and a tec 24" 4 lamp fixture with the legs fit over the tank fine sps clams and bta's are fine with this light
 
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