b-day present what can i do

so i oredered Nova Extreme HO Light Fixture - 2 x 20 Watt T5 - Saltwater - 18" from merine depto what corals can i keep in my 10 gallon with it read my sig the two clowns are gone what elese could i get i want a hammer good choice?

with 18" fixture does it fit good over a 10 gallon (20") with the mounting hardware included

i ordered it yesterday at 9 pm when should i expect it

 

A hammer that is periodically target fed will do fine under this lighting. As to whether that will fit your tank or when you should receive it, I can't help you there.

 

what other corals can i have that i could'nt have with the PCs

 

From the wattage that you provided, you basicly have the same lighting. The wattage of the bulbs will help you "keep" different corals. Luna

 

but i heard that 40watts of PCs is way diffrent than 40 watts of T5s

ok no hard corals basicaly right

 

Based off of what I've read and how my tank has been going so far with only 2 T5 bulbs over a 30 gallon with T5's I believe you can keep almost anything except maybe the most light demanding SPS. It mostly depends exactly where you place the corals in the tank.

You can even keep SPS higher in the tank and under the bulbs just fine although you may not get the best growth/coloration possible until you get a better fixture with better reflectors and active cooling.

The total number of watts doesn't really matter, it's more of a matter of where the coral is in relation to the light. I believe T5 have much better photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) output than PCs. One thing with the Nova fixtures is the bulbs they come with are not the best. I would look at ATI, UVL, or Giesemann bulbs, they are much better than the Current USA bulbs that come with the fixture. If you want to keep some more light demanding corals that is.

I think keeping your water parameters stable is probably going to be the real challenge in a 10 gallon now that you have the light for it.

That's what I've learned about it so far, I don't claim to be any sort of expert though, far from it.

 

I don't even know where you would get 18" bulbs, I don't even see them on marine depot, I have two of the 24" Novas on top of my 18 gallon, the extra couple inches off of the tank doesn't bother me at all and the 20" bulbs cover the entire tank, I am very happy and plan to keep montipora digitada's and caps, chalices, birdsnest, some acros will fair allright, and other types of sps/lps. good luck mounting the light though, I would have gone with the 24 inch ones, just a couple bucks more, and if you want to get into LPS and some minor SPS you will need to replace the bulbs and possibly get a second fixture. Good luck though, glad to see you going T5's you will be very pleased

 

Your fixture is a 20" fixture that fits 18" bulbs... it will fit. I did the same as NanoReefer, got the 24" fixture. I believe the only replacement bulbs are the Current bulbs, and possibly Coralife for that fixture. Also you bulb spectrums are limited to 10k and 460 actinic. If you can get the 24" fixture do it! there are so many bulbchoices for that fixture. Usually takes 3-5 business days to recieve your order, depending on where you live of course.

 

Yikes.. it's 18" long, not 20"... may not fit.. call them and get the 24" Online reviews says it fits 10 gallon tanks. For 2$ more you get the 24".. and MORE bulb choices.

 

That's a good point about bulb sizes, I had no idea not very many people make 18" bulbs. So unless you don't really have any intention of keeping any SPS or high-light animals then you're probably fine but if you do then I agree, you might want to consider a 24" fixture for the bulb choices.