Shallow 12" growout tank - standard fluorescents?

[chrissreef]

Since my apartment doesn't have room for a tank (and I don't like nanos) I thought about having a 48"x12"x12" "growout" tank where I can grow sps frags for 2-3 yrs and move them to a large tank then.

Question - I've only had SPS under 250w halides... with such a shallow tank is standard fluorscents enough or will PC/T5 be required?

(trying to keep setup, utilities and temps low)

I'll use the tank to experiment with different filtration techniques... if SPS won't grow then I might just grow some nicely colored LPS or bite the PC bullet.

Thanks in advance!!

[Echidna09]

An NO fluorescent bulb will not be bright enough for SPS, even in a shallow tank. I would go with a couple T5HO, both white. They aren't that expensive and have great light output. With 2 48 inchers you should get 108 watts of light in there, which I think would be fine for most SPS. You will be able to keep the lights close to the water as well which will help out PAR wise.

[young_Skywalker]

T5 HO IMO are quite superior to the PCs, they're brighter and cooler...they also penetrate deeper

[LobsterOfJustice]

48" sounds like plenty of room for a tank for me....

[markandkristen]

http://www.garf.org/ScottCorals/scottSPS.html