lighting for 20gallon?

hey i was hoping i could get your guys input for my new tank. i got a 20 gallon tall. it's 24" long. i want great lighting for it but i dont want to break the bank. i want to be able to hold softies lps and definatly a couple of sps, because i haven't really had any sps before. i was think with such a small tank that i could use 64w 10000k compacts. do you think they would be goo enough? i couldn't find any t5's that would fit the tank. and the mh's are expensive and too hot. let me know what your suggestions are?

 

Here is a few 24" T5 fixtures and they should all fit your tank.

24" Solar T5 x 4 light

24" solar T5 x 6 light

Current Nova Extreme 24"

Current Sundial T-5

 

none of those are HO even though they suggest it. HO would be 54w a bulb. I found CF cheaper then any of those with for watts and kelvens. but anyways my question was if compacts would work good? if you think those t5's that are only 96watts then the compacts would work, right?

 

oh my mistake i am wrong. those are HO's. they just dont have as much watts because they are shorter. I'm used to looking and the 48". but I'm still wondering if compacts would be alright for such a small tank

 

T5's, HO or not, will blow compacts out of the water, specially since you have a tall tank. How tall exactly is this tank?

 

well it's 16" i think. but the compacts have more watts and are still 10000k's so it looks like the compacts would be better. i've found a compact with two bulbs the watts total is 130w and 10000k and the setup is $130. so i dont think the t5's would blow compacts out of the water?

 

Well, watts and kelvin ratings are not the only equation with lighting. PAR values are also big. Also, PC's do not have very good penetrating power, which is a big deal on tall tanks. T5's will hold their power nearly twice as deep into the water as PC's. Also, PC bulbs are going to need to be replaced almost twice as often as T5's, so that's something to consider when factoring in the cost.

 

If you want to keep sps, then do not go CF. They will not work. The watts per gallon rule is really bad, especially when comparing CF to T5 or MH. If you want to keep some of the more light demanding LPS and SPS, you need to spend the money. Gazog put up a good line of suggestions. I like the Nova Extreme 24" 4x24W. It is more than enough and the T5s will penetrate to the bottom of the tank as well as MH in a tank that is 16" deep.

 

can check out aquatraders.com also the odysea fixtures arent to shabby for a "budget" setup, I'd just ditch the bulbs they ship with for UVL's

 

Sorry, but you're pretty much dead wrong. T5s will out do CF any day of the week. I have CF over a 90g tank. I know how bad they are. I am going to upgrade to T5s, because like you, I want to keep more light demanding corals. Do not get into the Watt comparison game between T5s and CF. It is comparing apples to oranges.