Lighting for a small tank

[Sorbo]

Hey Everyone

I'm still fairly new to this and I've got a question regarding lighting on a small tank. I currently have a 15 gallon tank setup (12" high) and I've got 2 65W PC lights over top of it, one Actinic, and one 10K bulb.

Now I know that metal halide is the best lights you can get, and for keeping a divesity in a larger tank, thats probably the way to go, but what kind of things can I keep with this setup?

It's almost 10W/gallon and I know some people say that doesn't matter but some do. The light doesn't have a lot of water to penetrate so I was wondering if that would makd a difference. Will I be able to keep SPS in there? LPS?

Any help would be appreciated as I've found many different opinions on this type of thing.

Thanks!
Kev

[Paul Davies]

Hi there,

It all depends on what you are planning on keeping.

With the lighting, i would stick to soft corals.

[Cuervo420]

I have 2x65w pc as well. I used to keep them on a 20h (16"h) and have since changed the tank to a 20l (12"h). The move actually bleached most of my coralline (yes i have been acclimating). I keep mostly softies and LPS. You could keep some lower light SPS, but their coloration might not be what you want (slightly brown).
IMO, I wouldn't get mh lights for such a small (height and volume) tank. Heat and evap issues could be incredible. Just my experience.

[Sorbo]

What type of light should I be using for the tank to keep some SPS with lower light requirements. Which SPS have the lower requirements?
Also, what LPS corals have lower light requirements?

Thanks!

[rklutt]

I have this same tank and I have 2x65w 50/50 pc's and a 70w mh 10k. I can keep just about anything I want in it. I currently have several SPS frags and a Maxi clam in the tank and everything is fine. I have actually had the Maxi in the tank for over a year and it has grown a lot. I have the whole tank set-up on a Digital Aquatics ReefKeeper with 2 PC fans for cooling, I put in about 1 gallon of top off every 2 days.

PS this thing glows!

[jimbo045]

If you go MH you will have heat to deal with. Power Compact put out less heat and are kinda bright. JD

[rklutt]

I don't really have any problems with heat... I have my reefkeeper temp set at 81.5 and at that point the fans come on and bring it down to 79.5

[Cuervo420]

In a 12"t tank with pc lighting, the lps i have are GPS (Briarium), torch (Euphyllia) , candy cane (Caulastrea) and blastomussa. All are showing a noticeable growth every few days and most are on the sand.