lighting setup

[bksmith]

Okay, I've been reading all i can about lighting for weeks now and this is what I have come up with for my 92G Corner tank.

36" MH system with (2) 250W DE HQI Ushio 10K bulbs
plus two actinics.

I have 2 Questions
1) I have reluctantly decided on 2 MH bulbs even though my LFS said one would be fine. Under this intense lighting, will I be able to have any corals in the top 6" of my tank? Thats the top of my rock pilings along the back and I would like to have something up there. (BTW I'm still open to hearing why one bulb would be good instead of two).

2) I still haven't settled on t03 or t05 actinics, actually I'm not sure I know the difference, can anyone help me out here?

FYI - I don't have a preferred stocking list yet, but don't want to have any limitations, want at some point down the road a clam or two and try an anemone and I like some colt coral types.

 

[ChrisRD]

1) I have reluctantly decided on 2 MH bulbs even though my LFS said one would be fine. Under this intense lighting, will I be able to have any corals in the top 6" of my tank? Thats the top of my rock pilings along the back and I would like to have something up there. (BTW I'm still open to hearing why one bulb would be good instead of two).

You could light that tank with one lamp provided you make the canopy tall enough to mount the lamp high enough to get adequate spread. Two lamps will give you more even (and higher) illumination levels. There are definitely plenty of light loving species that will thrive in the upper parts of the tank if properly acclimated to your lighting, so I wouldn't worry about that. Most photosynthetic animals in the hobby are very adaptable to different lighting levels.

2) I still haven't settled on t03 or t05 actinics, actually I'm not sure I know the difference, can anyone help me out here?

In the context of actinic fluorescent lighting, the term "03" is fairly meaningless. This was actually a product number designation for a lamp manufacturer (Philips, I believe) and just continues to stick around in the hobby lingo for some reason. Actually the term "actinic" is also incorrectly applied in this hobby along with several other words... :wink:

T-5, however, refers to the style/size of the lamp. The "T" designates that the lamp is a tube. The number "5" represents the diameter of the lamp in 1/8" increments. A standard 1-1/2" diameter fluorescent tube is therefore referred to as T-12. T-8s have all but replaced T-12s in modern commercial fluorescent lighting fixtures because as tube diameter decreases, lamp efficiency and life typically increase. T-5s are the latest generation of fluorescent lamps and claim to be the most efficient and long-lasting to date. PCs are basically T-5s bent back on themselves in a "U" shape, but are apparently not as efficient because of the odd lamp geometry.

HTH a bit...