Lighting for soft coral?

[AndySW]

I have recently set up a 100gl tank and have 42 kilo's of LR and i intend to keep soft coral's, i was told in the shop that T 8's would be ok for them, so i paid a fair bit of cash on 4 60 inch tubes, 3 white and 1 blue. However since then i keep hearing other reefers saying you need at least t 5's for soft coral, am i going to be ok here, i really can't change the t 8's now.

Thanks
Andy

[WaterKeeper]

Andy are the T-8 VHO or at least HO? If so, they will be fine.

[welcome]

[delorean]

yah i was told you need t5's too. I don't think t8's are going to be the best choice. I was told that it cost a lot for VHO? maybe even more then MH....

[WaterKeeper]

T-8's come in both HO and VHO while T-5 is only HO. T-5 benefits over the 8's because the narrower tube allows for more efficient reflectors. However, I still think T-8 is a good choice and is widely used in Europe.

[AndySW]

sorry guys, what is VHO and HO?

[WaterKeeper]

Darn Newbie Brits. :D

HO is high output and VHO is very high output. A normal 4" T-12 fluorescent tube is 40 watts, the HO is 60 watts and VHO 110 watts all from the same size tube.

Here's a tutorial-
Lighting ([url=http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-12/newbie/index.php)