T5 lighting for soft corals

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I would like to have the option of selecting most types how many watts could about 75% of soft corals live under.
 
It will be a 55 standard....I know not to interesting but I have space limits as my house has an obscene amount of windows and where the are no windows there seems to be a heating vent so I have one spot the exact size for a 55 standard.
 
depending on what softies, but running 2 bulbs should be close to enough, if you want to graduate up to sps, and other slightly more difficult corals, i would go up to a 4 bulb system, for the 4 bulbs i would go 10k, 20k, 2 actinics 460nm and i forget the other one i use, for the 2 bulb, a 10-14k and an actinic would be plenty
 
Ps, my first tank was a 55, they are a great learning tank, and you can still get a great looking aquascape out of them
 
Thanks for the info...I was thinking on going with a 4 bulb system but was hopping to get away with 2....for some reason no matter how long I do this hobby lighting never seems to make sense to me, I always have to ask around.
 
the key is, most softies are filter feeders, there are a few that are photosynthetic, but some people mistake lps for softies, which are mostly photo. any good light with a good reflector will take care of it for you.
 
my thing with Octocorals is there fine with most lighting you just got to watch what species you get due to some not able to tolerate higher lighting issue's unless you put them real low in the tank. Just find the species your interested in and research it and you'll know exactly what the lighting it will like and if it will be sensitive to other higher lighting scheme's.

mr.reef24
 
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