Is my lighting sufficient?

Hi guys, please bear with me, typing this post off my iPhone, (my boss thinks he's running a business in Iraq). In any case, I'm into fish hobby about 7-8 months. Latter 6 of those being in FOWLR.

My tank 30g has been doing fine so far, with two exceptions,
1. I had three anemones (only after joining on here I read I should have waited atleast 3 months before even getting one). 2 vanished, I suspect they died, and the first one is still alive yet always small, never fully extendeding the arms

2. Had an amonia spike that killed my hippo tang three of my neon gobies it was the first ammonia spike I had in about 4 months. I suspect it was a combination of the auto feeder letting out too much and crappy skinner which I now upgraded to a cskim 1200.

Anyways, I have a 24" power compact light. 65 watts 10,000k, current brand.

Is that sufficient for soft coral keeping?

I was told yes by a lady at the fish store. By I don't feel like I'm being advised correctly. I came for your expertise

 

some softies like mushies or leathers but you wont get much color from them i would upgrade

 

It really depends on how deep your tank is. Is it 30 gallons deep or long? Some anenomes are from deeper waters. Having 3 also in this tank is too many.

 

that lighting wont support anemones but will support soft corals, mushrooms, zoas and some leathers but not much past that

 

You would be fine with a 36" T5 set up. I would get rid of the PCs and do it right. Keep 'em around in case you want to start up a FOWLR. Here is what I would seriously consider for your 30g.

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/Sunlight_Supply/Tek_Light_Fixtures/36_inch__4x39W_Tek_Light_T5_High-Output_Fixture_w!_Bulbs_(Black)_by_Sunlight_Supply

You would also need the acrylic splash shield and legs, which would bring the total price to about four bills. But you would be getting a really good fixture and the bulbs would be included (high quality UVL bulbs).

Skimming and lighting. Two things you really cannot skimp on IMO.

 

you dont need the acrylic splash shield, I took it off my 48" set cause it was causing heat issues, i cut it up and used it for something else lol, you do need the legs though unless you intend on hanging them

 

My corals are exploding in size and color with my PC's. MY LFS keeps all of their tanks except for the shallow frag tank under PC's. Their other 30+ tanks all house corals and fish just so you know that he's using the PC's for corals as well. I'm with him that as long as your tank is small enough, a PC will do plenty fine. He laughs saying that it seems to him that people forgot how people kept corals even ten years ago. You have a lot of people coming into the hobby and all they know is T5 or MH because they've had that banged in their head since the begining. I love a owner that will tell you to be patient and not blow your wallet on something you don't need.

He also showed me that MH and PC's will bring out different colors in the corals. I didn't like one of my zoa colonies under the MH, but when he put them under the PC's I had to have them. It's not always that T5's and MH's will bring out color, it just depends on which colors.

Now I'm not knocking on other lights, but don't be down on yourself for having what you've got.

Just to show you, here is my acans when I first purchased it and then a pic from today. It opens fully and we have counted 4 new polyps since we purchased it.

First Purchased:


Today:

 

That looks good....I am going to just upgrade my PC bulbs for now....One day I might upgrade. My tank is about 19 to 20 inches deep. Nice Acan's...Ya gave me a craving for a frag..I would never try to keep a Anemone under PC lighting unless it was a very shallow tank, I also agree that 3 is way to many for such a small tank. but Good Luck.....Welcome to the hobby....Bring your wallet......
Danny

 

Thanks Danny. We will eventually upgrade too when we go to a larger tank. We saw no reason to dump a lot of money into a tank that will probably be up for less than two years. When we go to a deeper tank we will surely go to a light that can penetrate deeper.

 

Thank you for the knowledge, guys.

The more I surf around on this forum the quicker I realize how much more i have to learn.

Honestly, I don't like the output from the lights I have, while I don't really a comparison to hold it to, it just seems like the light dissipates towards the bottom of the tank.

Oh, The tank is 18 deep.

Something that I'm worried about is getting stuck with equipment I cant use in the future.

I intend on upgrading from this tank, I'm just not sure yet, when I can (space/money).

This is gonna take some thinking. :-/ If only this hobby wasn't so expensive.