Lighting for a 30 gallon

I tried searching and nothing came up so I thought I would post on here. I am planning on eventually having corals (going to wait till the cycle is over) so I was planning on 2 t5's, any certain types? I need a lid for my tank and I really like the glass ones, but I am worried that with the heat from the bulbs on the glass combined with the water it my crack, what do you guys suggest?

 

T5's don't generate enough heat to crack glass...

but for corals you're gonna want a lot more light. I would look for a 6 bulb fixture if you want to stick with just T5's... 4 at the very least.

Really the more T5 lighting you can throw at a tank the better.

You might also consider one of the 75 or 150 HQI / MH set ups that clip on to the tank, or hang over it.

-Doug

 

+1 on above. You will need atleast a four bulb t5 fixture to keep corals. If you are looking to spend sparingly. look into the two bulb linkable fixture. they are around $100. you can link 2 more together later. AquaticLife LLC | Premium Marine Aquarium Products

 

Depending on the price range you're looking to spend. I have researched a ton on T5's when I was upgrading. I recommend taking a look at the Aquatic Life fixtures, they come with everything you'll need and have been spoken highly of:
AquaticLife T5 HO 4-Lamp Light Fixtures w/ Lunar LEDs

The next levels up would be your TEK or TEK Elite, Aquactinics, IceCap, & ATI fixtures, but you'll be def spending more $.

My advice is to start with the best light you can afford instead of regretting it later. Buy from www.BigAlsOnline.com and take advantage of their 10% off code for the forum 3REEF

 

I have an aquatic life T5HO 4 bulbs over my 29g, i have SPS in there.

 

I have the same lights on a 40b and love them.