I'm considering getting this tank for my dorm room next year since I am going to be an Resident Assistant and have a room to myself. Would a 2 x 24 watt T5 light work for this tank? I was thinking about a 2 x 65 watt coralife PC light otherwise. Let me know what you think.

That's a great looking tank! T5's are great - depending on what you are going to keep, you could probably go with the 2 bulb fishneedit T5HO - with the tank depth this light will give you a lot of stocking options and it is fairly reasonably priced.

Personally - I have had both T5 and PC... I like the flexibility in choosing more color options with the T5 and the corals seem to react better and grow faster.

Hope this helps
B

Nice looking tank. I would probably go T5 as well. It may add up to be fewer watts, but there's a lot more flexibility with T5 and also...it's a 13G tank. You don't need much light over all.

Look into the new NanoCustoms T-5 Hybrid fixture.

So even if i went with a 10 gallon tank i could still put a 2x24 watt T5 fixture over it and get decent coral growth?

Should be pretty good - it's gonna give you 48 watts on a 10 gallon. Being T5HO you would get more light in the tank than PC. Plus the tank is pretty shallow - the one thing I would watch for is coverage front to back (I would not worry about side to side) Because it's two lights, you might need to have it forward a little as that will most likely be where the majority of corals are.

I have a 4x24 on a 30"x12"x12" and everything seems to be responding well to the lighting. I have a Pinks Birdnest (SPS) that is growing well, and a clam that has put on growth since I bought it. I will say that I keep both high up in the tank closer to the light.

Most of the softies (mushrooms, zoa...) should do really well with the light.

Another thing to consider with the T5 is that you can switch up the bulb combo to get different colorations and PAR ratings. Here is a great thread to read through:

T5HO Forum

I have read through a few times and just updated my lighting to give me a MUCH higher PAR rating. Based on most of what I have read, this should be better for SPS, Clam and should also provide better growth rates.

Have fun with it!

Thanks latteslave- all of that information is very helpful!