What is the best Type of lighting for a frag tank?
- Thread starter frizz
- Start date
snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
40g breeders are pretty good... but they aren't really shallow enough to be a true frag tank. Frag tanks are built with cost in mind - and are generally about 12" tall. This is because PAR values and light penetration for growing corals are much better at this depth. Shallow and wide. 
Generally people build their own frag tanks and stands.
Frag tank lighting varies with what you are trying to grow. nonphotosynthetic corals don't require any light - but a huge amount of filtration due to constant feedings. Soft corals require the minimum of lighting - you might get by with a four bulb T5HO system, which you can find a fixture cheaply online in horticulture websites. LPS corals require anything from four to eight T5HO bulbs and SPS corals do best with the maximum amount of light at eight to ten T5HO bulbs.
IT also depends on your budget. Running T5HO lights might be cheap to start as retrofit kits and buying bulbs, but LEDs will save on the electric bill each month by reducing the amount of watts they use as well as reduce or eliminate heat issues. Personally, I think LEDs are a great way to start off a frag tank - and maybe even the dimmable value fixtures from Evergrow might be a good place to start looking. That is, if you want to go cheap.
Generally people build their own frag tanks and stands.Frag tank lighting varies with what you are trying to grow. nonphotosynthetic corals don't require any light - but a huge amount of filtration due to constant feedings. Soft corals require the minimum of lighting - you might get by with a four bulb T5HO system, which you can find a fixture cheaply online in horticulture websites. LPS corals require anything from four to eight T5HO bulbs and SPS corals do best with the maximum amount of light at eight to ten T5HO bulbs.
IT also depends on your budget. Running T5HO lights might be cheap to start as retrofit kits and buying bulbs, but LEDs will save on the electric bill each month by reducing the amount of watts they use as well as reduce or eliminate heat issues. Personally, I think LEDs are a great way to start off a frag tank - and maybe even the dimmable value fixtures from Evergrow might be a good place to start looking. That is, if you want to go cheap.