# Classification of my lighting system



## Manny (Oct 8, 2013)

Hello again. I hope you guys are not getting fed up of me asking all these questions but I have yet another one. I got my aquarium lights finally about a week ago. Here it is http://www.petco.com/product/111939...d.aspx?Ntt=aquasun ho 30"&OneResultRedirect=1
I got the 30" and these are the 2 bulbs I bought: http://www.petco.com/product/111935...ht-Fluorescent-Bulb.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch
And http://www.petco.com/product/111938...20-Fluorescent-Bulb.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch
Each bulb is 24 watts and the hood does have reflectors. I have a 29 gallon tank that is 18 inches high. From the sticky I read on this forum, I believe this to be classified as medium lighting but the employees at the pet store keep telling me that this is high lighting and that it can even support live coral. I don't believe this to be true. What do you guys think? Better yet, what are the capacities of my lights as far as what can it support? Would it be able to support an anemone? Soft coral? I am not thinking about buying these at the moment but it might be a step up in the far future. Thanks in advance all.


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Yous is an HO system. High Output. It's fine for shallow tanks, but yours isn't shallow. You need VHO. However, any corals that need low or medium lighting can probably do okay as long as they aren't too near the bottom of the tank.


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Actually, low-light corals can possibly still make it near the bottom, but the harder stuff won't. Keep those on rockwork in the upper 3rd of the tank. Anemones? Very doubtful. Very. Most of them are more delicate and demanding than corals.


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

There are numerous handy-dandy charts online comparing the needs of the corals we keep in regard to light, water movement, aggressiveness, feeding, hardiness, etc... If you stick with the easy, less demanding ones to start, you'll be more successful.


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Don't even try to keep the high-light needing corals under HO lights no matter how shallow.


----------



## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

This I agree. 

Look into LED lighting. Here are a few examples. Expensive but worth it for beginner corals.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/fish-...de-fixture/ps/c/3578/3733/10704?count=44&s=ts

Marine Depot has a nice selection of LEDs as well:

http://www.marinedepot.com/led-aquarium-lighting.html

http://www.marinedepot.com/Maxspect-Light_Fixtures_for_Saltwater_Reef_Aquariums-0M-FILTFI-ct.html


----------



## Manny (Oct 8, 2013)

Ice- What about those LED strips that you can stick onto your current lighting systems? Could I supplement my lights with 2 strips of those LED lights? Only asking since I already purchased the t-5 HO that I am using.


----------



## Manny (Oct 8, 2013)

TheOldSalt said:


> Yous is an HO system. High Output. It's fine for shallow tanks, but yours isn't shallow. You need VHO. However, any corals that need low or medium lighting can probably do okay as long as they aren't too near the bottom of the tank.


Can you name a few that would do well in my tank setup?


----------



## Manny (Oct 8, 2013)

How do I determine my PAR rating on my lights?


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Without a PAR meter, you can't.

As for a list of easy corals, just google "easy beginner corals" and look for the ones that do okay in low light. There's plenty of them. Stay away from the leathers, though, until you have a skimmer running.


----------

