Beginner lighting

[stratg5]

Lighting is a bit confusing to me. I'm thinking I would want to go led. I have heard things like 3-5 watts per gallon, and that you need blue and regular light. Is there a link to any information regarding brands or what would be best to use for noobs? My local fish store sells what look like two good options. One is a dual lamp t5 fixture, 20 inches has 48 watts. They also have a small clamp on led fixture but I don't remember the wattage. Those seem to be the only viable options unless I order online, but I'm not familiar with any brands or sites, thank you! :rollface:

[jda]

I would not suggest LED to any beginner - even the experienced struggle with them somteimes. Get something that works tried and true so that when you have your up/downs you can be sure that it is not the light. What size of tank do you have?

[ghostman]

I agree with jda, and would not recommend LEDs to a beginner. I would go with a nice T5 unit, with as many bulbs as you can fit. A 2 bulb fixture may not have enough light output for some corals, and give less bulb combination options to make the tank suit your desired look. A 4 bulb fixture is nice. Used T5 fixtures are nice and could be cheap too. The selling forum might be off limits for you still, but maybe craigslist.

[Xavibear]

Get a 4 bulb t5.

[stratg5]

Well I don't have a tank yet, was thinking about starting a 10 gallon mushroom coral tank and then adding a goby or clown fish. I also don't want to pay out the butt in electricity.. and 4 t5's blasting away for 8 hours a day I'm guessing would drive up electricity costs. But a 10 gallon would be small so it would use less wattage. I still have a lot of planning to do so I'll research some t5 fixtures. Another thing is buying the bulbs every year, 4 bulbs would run me about 50 bucks. Not terrible, but that's why I was considering leds, because they don't need replaced and they don't use a lot of electricity. The start up costs are cool with me I'll spend whatever, but I don't want to keep paying a ton each month to light up the tank

[jda]

For a 10 gallon mushroom tank, just use the normal output light that comes with the tank. Get a 50/50 bulb to put in there. You can grow mushrooms with the light from a wristwatch.

[Xavibear]

If you haven't started yet I would suggest a larger tank. Better lighting options & fish options. If you are looking to keep a clownfish you will need more space than a 10.

[Bpb]

I heard it time and time again when I started, and didn't listen, but I'll echo it. Lighting should be the highest quality piece of gear you purchase if you want to grow corals. My 55 gallon sps tank with 4 t5 bulbs only costs $20 a month in electricity at most. That should be affordable on most budgets. Yours will be a lot less because you'll be running smaller pieces of gear and shorter bulbs. $50 a year in bulb replacement costs is nothing as well. Anyone can set aside $5 a month. And if all you're wanting is mushrooms and low light softies, two true actinics,, one blue, and one white bulb will by no means be blasting the tank, would provide adequate medium light levels, and look fantastic. t5 lighting is your best beginner choice. Halide and led require a deeper understanding of spectrum par, and temperature.

You don't have to be filthy stinking rich to have a great reef tank. That being said, you don't have to start with ecotech radions, or an ati powermodule, but it's a bad habit to get into just automatically defaulting to the absolute cheapest and minimal choice when looking to deck out your tank.

[stratg5]

Thanks everyone, and bpb you're right and I'm ok with buying an expensive light, I just don't want a whole bunch of recurring costs. I'm sure 50 watts a day wouldn't kill me so I will look into a dual lamp t5 fixture thank you for the recommendation. I'm a beginner and they have dual lamp t5 fixtures that can be linked together, so I may start with 2 lights and easy corals and upgrade if needed

[Bpb]

No prob, really what's more important than even the right, fixture is the right bulbs. I'd HIGHLY recommend considering going with an ATI BLUE+ and an ATI CORAL+. Very high quality bulb combo that will make your colors really pop and grow really well

[jda]

I would not spend too much on a 20" light. The chances of you ever using it again are pretty slim.