Lighting recommendations?

Its hard to find decent lighting for a 10g. Most setups are for 24"+ tanks or pico's, most of the good T5 bulb manufacturers don't even make bulbs smaller then 24". Decent LED setup will cost around $150+, if you go DIY you can build your own for around $100. You could try running a PAR 38 bulb, you may have to add an additional bulb to the setup down the road if you get into multiple high light corals, but a single par38 will run you around $80.
 
I have nothing but good stuff to say about Aquatrader products, I have two of their two-bulb lamps now for over two years without issue
 
One last question before I sleep Squid.

Due to the small length (height) of a 10 gallon, would it affect the lighting needed significantly?

As in, wouldn't a 100w be an overkill?

What should the wattage be aimed at?

I'm trying to balance wattage, par and kelvins.

I plan on using the actinic I have right now as just a "nightlight" for them. (Feeding corals time)

I will add another fixture in which I will try and get roughly 50-60 watts on it. Plan on a mixture of a 50/50, 14k and maybe a 10k? Would it be too much?

I'm not really into LEDs for now so a t5 fixture will be fine.

I'm in no rush right now so I'll have a few months until lighting is needed. Just planning ahead.


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Wattage is pretty much irrelevent with corals unless you are comparing similar products (LEDs to LEDs, etc). Typically, you are better off going with more than what you need and either rasing the fixture up to reduce PAR or buying a dimmable fixture. That way you have the ability to add more light demanding corals if you decide to go that route or if you decide to upgrade, you will not need to buy lighting twice. However, due to the size of this tank, you defiitely should treat this as a starter tank and save your money for an upgrade (and there will be an upgrade :)). A 2 bulb T5 with a good reflector will allow you to keep most anything in a 10 gallon. High light SPS (acropora) and clams should probably stay off your list but softies, LPS and select SPS (montipiora, digitata, etc) are very doable with a 2 bulb T5 on such a small tank. Another "cheapish" option is a single PAR 38 bulb which screws into any standard light bulb socket. This would give you about the same options as the dual bulb T5. The advanatge being no bulbs to replace but the disadvantage being that you are pretty much stuck with that lighting color ulesss you can rig up other lighting around it. Google ecoxotic PAR 38 to get an idea. There are lots of other manufacturers out there too.
 
Greech explained it all pretty well, wattage needs can vary by light source, a lower wattage T5HO can be more effeciant then a higher wattage PC.

When my 20g tank sprung a leak I had move corals over to a 10g temporarily which ended up being a couple months, I had a 24" x4 T5 fixture sitting on top of the tank 96 watts, wasn't overkill didnt kill anything, took a few corals a couple weeks to adjust to the change.

The actinic might be a little to bright for a night light, I've used them more as a dusk/dawn setting coming on 90 minutes before mainlights and staying on 90 after. A single blue LED would be all thats needed on a 10g, my 24" fixture has 3 LED's for night lighting and that was very bright on a 10g. With a 20" fixture your probably limited to coralife bulbs so yeah i guess a 50/50 and then depending on if you want a bit of a blue tint either 10000k or 14
 
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