Shallow Reef Tank Lighting

I'm going to start a shallow reef tank and I plan on using a 30 or 40 gallon breeder tank, 12" and 16" respectively. I'm going to use a 4" sand bed now making the depth 8" or 12" respectively. Since I am just a college student I don't have a lot of money to spend on a MH light. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on what type of lighting to use (T5, PC, etc).

If anyone talks about watts per gallon I will punch you.

 

You have given all info that is needed except one, what will be in this shallow tank?....lol


Luna

 

I think a good starting point is 4-6 watts per gallon.... Oops!!

lol, for real though, I would go with a T-5 fixture. There are many different lighting combinations (depending on what corals you are going to house) you can achieve with T-5's. Plus they make fixtures with 2 or 4 or 6 or 8 lights in many differents lenghts..

 

Sorry, I meant to include that in this tank I will have all types of coral including LPS and SPS coral and maybe a few small fish.

And what about of wattage for the lights?

 

T5's all the way. T5's are comparable to MH lights up to a certain depth. I think it's either 22" or 24" where you would get much better performance out of an MH than you would a similar T5 because MH lighting penetrates through the water much better. But in a shallow tank T5's are the best way to go IMO. We have a Sundial T5 fixture on our 46 bowfront, which is about 19 inches deep, and we have SPS gallor all over the top of our aquascape. Our birdsnests are growing like weeds, and then we have tons of other corals as well. I'd recommend that fixture, or a 6 bulb fixture like the Nova Extremes.

 

T5 would be great for that breeder.... A 6 lamp would cover the tank completely but if you really wanted to save $$ you could probably get away with a 4 lamp...as long as its a GOOD 4 lamp fixture, Tek or better.

Problem is this.... You want a shallow reef tank.... LPS are typically deeper or in turbid lagoonal areas and are not used to the vigorous flow nor intense light SPS is accostomed to. This doesn't always work esp in shallow tanks where you cannot shelter the LPS.

If you raised the fixture off the tank that would help but you would also waste light and $$ for the electricity.
You might want to think whether you want it SPS dominate, or LPS with some SPS.... That is going to affect your lighting as well as flow needs more than anything.

 

i'm a poor college kid too, if you really need the money, DON'T DO IT!

on a serious note, this is how i did it:
icecap 660 used ballast
4xnew slr reflectors
4xnew bulbs
build a hood

that's atleast 160+cost of ballast (60) if you look around
or look for a used
so for about 220 you could stay with t5ho or go with used metal halides. probably 2x150 for that price.

 

Workhorse ballasts will work just fine and save you some serious $$

 

i have a nova 4X54W T5 over my 33 long, which is only about 14'' deep, it's amazing! i'm also keeping a mixed reef tank. i think that light was only about 200 dollars.

 

I second on the workhorse. I believe the workhorse 5 can run up to 4xt5ho