Right amount of light for SPS & Clams

[juice_1080]

I am looking to downsize my tank from a 75g to a 26 or 28 bow (guy doesn't know, said its a 29g bow) and I am trying to figure out how much light I need.
I currently have 8x54w T5-HO's on my 75g but I had a temp spike while out of town and lost all corals but my paly's.
I know the tank is 24" wide and I am going with T5-HO individually reflected bulbs. I am just trying to figure out how many I should have to keep these high demand inhabitants.
The 26g is 21" tall and the 28g is 18" tall. ( I hope its the 28g)
The bulbs will be 24w each for T5-HO. Will a 2x24w fixture do the trick or should I be going with 4x24w?
Also what would be an acceptable amount of PC lighting? The guy has PC lighting on the tank and I guess if it is powerful enough I could keep that on it instead.
Thank you for your help

 

[stanlalee]

a good 4x24w is what you want. No pc will will be appropriate for high demand. even if you could theoretically get enough wattage you couldn't fit it over a 24" tank.

 

[juice_1080]

Thats what I thought. I figured 2 would just not cut it and I really didn't wanna try to find a 6 bulb setup or pay for it or do MH due to heat and cost.
This guy has a 2x65w PC coralife strip and as well I figured that just wouldn't cut it either. Thank you for the help.

 

[juice_1080]

Just got my Current Sundial 4x24w T5-HO Fixture. This thing is sweet. I have always went for the cheaper ---- fixtures no wonder why my colors never popped. I guess you really do get what you pay for...

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by juice_1080
http:///forum/post/3118899
Just got my Current Sundial 4x24w T5-HO Fixture. This thing is sweet. I have always went for the cheaper ---- fixtures no wonder why my colors never popped. I guess you really do get what you pay for...
That's the light I have on my 29G...I really like it too