Lighting for lower light corals

Itsadeepbluesea

Goliath Tigerfish
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Apr 6, 2008
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Would a 76w Aquaticlife HO T5 fixture be enough to do lower end (lower light) coral? It would be on a 36g bowfront.
 

Jrob

Jack Dempsey
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Apr 7, 2011
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Depends on the height of the tank basically....but also what exactly do you mean lower end coral?

however, an easy way to do it....is to take the total amount of watts, and divide it by the size of your tank in gallons....this is the very very basic way

So let's say for example, you have a double tubed 76w fixture.... that is 152 watts....and you're putting it on a 36 gallon tank
152 / 36 = 4.2 watts per gallon
which would put you in range of some softies and maybe some light sps...but that's pushing it... also have to take into account the depth like i said.
 

Itsadeepbluesea

Goliath Tigerfish
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Apr 6, 2008
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by lower end I mean lower light, what I would have is 76 watts total making it 2.1 watts/gallon, is there anything I could do with that.
 

Otherone

Feeder Fish
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Feb 2, 2009
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Their are corals that do not require lite at all but I do suspect you can grow watermelon mushrooms in 2 watts as well as a wide variety of polyps. Non- photosynthetic corals - Red + yellow deep water gorgonians, Purple sea fans, blueberry gorgonians, purple rod gorgonians, porous sea rod, yellow or white sea rod, golden sea fans, and LPS sun coral both black or orange to name a few. Other critters - sea cucumbers, feather dusters, sponges, flame scallops, pizza and dwarf carpet anemones.

HOWEVER - you do have to feed all these guys 3 types of planktonic foods - Phyto, bacterio, and zoo. This will mean your fighting nitrates + phosphates.
 
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