Lighting a 2.5 gal

[Bill Nye]

Hey everyone..i have a question concerning lighting a 2.5 gal nano. As it is now i have a 7 gal mini bow and at this point dont have enough money to stock it the way I want to. In light of this I have decided to move the soft corals i have into a 2.5 gal rectangle tank. I modded my mini bow with a 32 watt powercompact light and am running what I believe is a 26 watt Coralife 18" bulb (might be wrong on the wattage but i know it wasnt 32 watts). I have experience with mini tanks and had a 1 gallon for a while while i was at college. My basic question is would this be too much light for a 2.5 gal tank or would it be fine because I am building a hood for this tank and the bulb will fit over the 2.5. Thanks for your response!

Bill

[Bill Nye]

please god answer my questions.

[garod82]

26 watts is fine. I know people running 36 watts on a similar setup.

[MeuserReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6596990#post6596990 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bill Nye
please god answer my questions.

Well.. Im not GOD .. but I'll try to answer ya!

With a 26W you are looking at 10.4 Watts/Gallon if using a 2.5 gallon. I currently run a 96W on my 10G (I wont insult your intelligence by doing the math on this one) and the critters in my tank love it. I do have to use a PC fan in the canopy to keep my water temp <82 degrees which in turn causes me to have a higher evaporation rate... but I have an ATO.

[randt122]

Watts per gallon doesn't mean anything. The intensity and spectrum of light is what's important. If you're planning to keep only soft corals, I don't see a problem. The width of a 2.5 is approximately 12" so I don't think your 18" bulb will fit into the canopy that your building. Get one of those Coralife 12" 2x 18watts pc fixture and you'll be all set. Also you can do a 70w metal halide set up and keep any coral you want but you will be needing fan and ato since evaporation and temp will be ridiculously high.