How many PAR38's?

[Skill Thiz]

Hi, I have a 30G cube.

It's 20 inches in width, 18 in height.

 

I am currently running two T8's, one attinic and one marine glo sun.

 

I was told to upgrade lighting for low light corals as apparently my T8's aren't strong enough for soft corals.

 

Can I buy one PAR38 bulb and keep my blue attinic T8 running, or do I need to buy two PAR38 bulbs for soft coral?

 

Thanks.

[gabe3eb]

I think the real issue here is that PAR38s don't do really well in this type of tank. If you were dead set on keeping your T8s and only dropping $100ish on a PAR38, then I would honestly look at one of the cheap odyssea or fishneedit.com T5s. It would cost you the same price and give you a much better result. If you were set on using LEDs, you could get into something for around the $300-400 range that would allow you to keep whatever you want.

[boxboy]

Post photos of your tank/lights and corals. This will help experianced people on NR to help you know for sure if your set up is good enough for softys or anything els.

We have seen all.sorts or tanks. so please share. Use photo bucket or other photo hosting sites to help you upload photos to NR.

[seabass]

While I don't disagree with what Gabe stated, I think that if you spotlight the rock island, you'll be able to support your soft coral. If I remember correctly, this is just a temporary tank, so you don't want to invest a lot in a size specific light fixture.

 

Two would be better than one, but I bet you could get by with one directly over your coral. If you have room for them, there is no reason why you cant also run your T8 bulbs as well.

[Skill Thiz]

While I don't disagree with what Gabe stated, I think that if you spotlight the rock island, you'll be able to support your soft coral. If I remember correctly, this is just a temporary tank, so you don't want to invest a lot in a size specific light fixture.

 

Two would be better than one, but I bet you could get by with one directly over your coral. If you have room for them, there is no reason why you cant also run your T8 bulbs as well.

 

 

Would these at all work? http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=307007

 

This is my current system with two T8's running on a two 20inch single tube light strips.

 

Can I keep my T8's and use 1 PAR 38? Or, just use two PAR 38's?

[jedimasterben]

Would these at all work? http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=307007

 

This is my current system with two T8's running on a two 20inch single tube light strips.

 

Can I keep my T8's and use 1 PAR 38? Or, just use two PAR 38's?

It would be difficult to keep your T8 strips if you were attempting to position the PAR38 bulb well. If your corals are focused in one location, a single bulb would do (I very highly recommend the Full-spectrum PAR38 bulb from LEDtric), but if they are spread out, two would be needed. A PAR38 will really only cover a 14"x14" area with good PAR ratings, as you get more than that PAR starts dropping. Luckily, softies don't need much PAR, some as little as 35-40 PAR.

 

 

EDIT: Wait, 18" high. That would pose a bit more of a problem. Please post pics of your current layout and note where corals are or where you want to keep some, and we can help more.

[Skill Thiz]

 

That's my current layout, two T8's in the back.

 

I'd like my coral up front, in the two corners maybe, or right infront of the rock.

 

 

Is another pic.

 

It's 18-19 inches high.

[jedimasterben]

Because it's so tall, I would do two across the middle.

[Skill Thiz]

If I ran my two T8's and one PAR38 bulb in the center, right over the rock tower, do you think I could get away with soft corals?

[jedimasterben]

If I ran my two T8's and one PAR38 bulb in the center, right over the rock tower, do you think I could get away with soft corals?

Possibly, but T8 bulbs don't have the punch necessary to really get down to the bottom of your tank. I really doubt that they would be of great help to the situation versus the PAR38 bulb alone.