Hey everyone Question about T5 lighting and my Tank.

italymanru · 03-21-2008, 11:11 AM

I am new to this site but it seems interesting. I have a 55g tank and just got T5 lighting system. Two actinic blue and two 10000k bulbs for a total of 216W (4x54). I was just wondering if this is sufficient for sps corals or if i need more lighting. I am also going to list all my equipment so you can give me tips on anything else.

I have an Eheim canister filter, seaclone protein skimmer, 1 heater, 1 powerhead, >100 lbs of live rock and live sand.

Fish :

hippo tang
yellow tang
Yellow watchman
Diamond spotted goby
bicolor blenny
3 green chromis'
1 peculiar clown

then some snails, hermits, 2 emerald crabs, 2 cleaner clams, 5 peppermint shrimps, 1 coral banded shrimp

Corals:

green star polyp
red, green, and metallic green striped mushrooms
clove polyp
some mixed zooanthids (sand polyps)
green open brain
hammer coral

Can I put in some sps corals and which ones do you recommend?

Please get back to me with any advice any of you can share. Thanks!

Sal

cuttingras · 03-21-2008, 01:11 PM

Welcome to 3reef!

I'll let the experts answer those questions, but I do have a question for you. How's the SeaClone working for ya? Are you getting gunk in the cup or just a bunch of water? IMO I'd get rid of that thing(I had one) and buy an AquaC Remora. Much better skimmer.

Also, you said a 55gal? I think you are WAY overloaded with fish... especially the two tangs, they need room to roam, and those Chromis' will grow too......

I'd have at least 2 Koralia 3's in there(powerheads) Do you have Nitrate or algae problems? How old is tank??? Let's see some pics!!!

aquaboy · 03-21-2008, 01:14 PM

the hippo tang will easily outgrow a fifty-five, heck Omard's outgrew a 125! and you may need much more flow. otherwise, as long as your param's are in check and you calcium is leveled, your ready to try a piece of hardy SPS like montipora or the such!

italymanru · 03-21-2008, 02:14 PM

i thought it was overstocked haha... they are all small for now so it isn't too bad. I got the hippo as a gift but i knew it was going to be too big. my nitrates are at 0 ppm and so are my phosphates and so on. No algae problem either.

the skimmer is working great. It collects a lot of junk, most likely because i have a lot of live stock. but the sponge stays clean now, not so much when i first started the tank up. It is maybe 10 months up and running now.

Should i put a piece of montipora towards the top to make sure it gets a lot of light and does it need a lot of flow?