Lighting For A 20long

[Hobbit]

hey everyone, i was wondering what a good light would be for a 20 long. I found some coralife cf that would work, but someday in the far-away future, i'd like to keep a clam maybe, can anyone reccomend some good lamps for that? links would be preffered. I'd like to go for t5. I saw some at PetCo yesterday, they were GLO or something. it was 24" and only 55watts i believe. i dont know how the wattage works for t-5. Maybr even some cheaper matal halides would be ok. i would probably just get one of those in-tank refugiums that you stick to the side, and put my clam up higher if i needed to. I saw that somewhere, and liked the idea.

P.S.
if it wouldnt be too much trouble, could anyone do the same for a 29?

 

[Colin_T]

T5s should be fine if the tank is less than 2ft high. Have a couple of hi output T5s and they should be adequate.
Try to get globes that have a Kelvin (K) rating of about 10,000K. Don't bother going lower than 6,000K or higher than 14,000K.

 

[Hobbit]

wattage doesnt really matter?
thanks!!

wattage doesnt really matter?
thanks!!

 

[Colin_T]

if you can get the 55watt T5s then a couple fo those should be ok. Without knowing the exact size of the tank it is a bit hard to tell but generally if the clam is kept close to the lights they do pretty well with 100watts of light.
Try to avoid getting a tiny clam as they don't do as well as the bigger ones.

 

[Hobbit]

so i would need more than one of these lamps?

What if i didnt get a clam, what could i take care of?

Im 16, without a job as of now, so yeah, im not the richest kid in the world.
I've got 100$ saved up. this is 99

 

[Colin_T]

yep you would need a couple of lamps for a clam. Clams are also pretty expensive and don't do much. You could probably get some soft corals, leather coral, coral morphs, etc and they should be ok under a single 55w T5. Button corals would probably be ok too. The main thing would be to have the lights on for 12-14 hours a day and watch the corals. If they start to lose colour (fade) then they need more light. You can move them higher up in the tank so they are closer to the lights. And you can have the lights on for 16 hours per day maximum, but no longer than that.

 

[Hobbit]

ok.
I really apreciate all the help you've given me!!
So what lights would you suggest, because i dont want to be restricted in my choice of corals. lol. What would you suggest for a 29 AGA? again, links would be the best.

 

[Colin_T]

the 29gallon would be pretty much the same as the 20g but try to get more light because it is a bigger tank.

 

[Hobbit]

any specific suggestions?

 

[Colin_T]

A couple of High output T5s

can't give you any specific brands because I have no idea what is available near you. Different countries have different models and so on. But generally they are all pretty much the same.

 

[Hobbit]

nothing is near me. lol, im sorry i forgot to mention that. I meant online thingies

 

[Colin_T]

sorry don't have any online sources
maybe start another thread asking for online sources for aquarium lights