do i have enough light?

[Pallen81]

I'm using a 30 gallon breeder tank as my 1st saltwater set up. It will be a fish only set up with some clean up crews as well. I'll worry about corals some other time when I'm more experienced.

I plan on having about 3-5 small saltwater fish. the tank is 36" long and I have standard flourscent light that is about 30" long. Its a little on the short side. I plan on getting a bulb that is for marine usage.

Can I use this light on my tank and have sufficient light for fish/shrimp/snails/starfish?

 

[Reefscape]

as your only going to be fish and inverts, with no corals, standard normal output lighting will suffice. Maybe the addition of a moon light so you can replicate dusk and dawn effect would be a good edition..

Niko

 

[spinx]

Well you are gonna be tempted to invest in a coral of some sort pretty soon, believe me! Rather upgrade to something like a t5 system. these arent that expensive and can support most coral and inverts' needs. But to answer your Q, it should be ok for fish, just wont do a SW tank justice though.

 

[Pallen81]

Rather upgrade to something like a t5 system.

What is a t5 system? I hope thats not a dumb question. :huh:

Okay I'm glad a normal light will be ok. I am pretty sure I won't have corals as this tank will be setup for about 15 months before I move far away.

 

[Reefscape]

Hiya..There are various different types of light setup for marine systems...T5 is just one of many different ways to light the system..Different lights include Normal Output ( NO ), VHO, power compacts, T8, T5 and metal halides..Peoples opinions vary on what kind of light is best for a tank..My opinion is that metal halides provide the best lighting, with T5 coming a close second...Of course, what you want to have in a tank will dictate what lighting you need. For me, on my new build, i wanted to be able to put anything in there and not be limited by the lighting so i opted for metal halides and marine blue actinics...

Review this litle write up and it will explain far better than i can, the different types of lights available..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reef_tank

Niko