Lighting Question

Is a Tek T5 48" 8 bulb fixture overkill for a 120g tank (48x24x24)? Would a 6 bulb work just as well? This will be my first reef tank so I'll be starting out with fish and easy corals but I would like to eventually keep SPS and clams and would rather buy something now that will work for advanced corals as well. Right now I have a Coralife CF that a friend gave to me but there is a used Tek 8 bulb for sale locally for $200 with bulbs. It sounds like a great deal so I'm wondering if it would be worth buying or if I can just make due for now since I haven't even set up and started cycling yet?

 

How many watts is the light?

 

The Tek runs 54w bulbs, so 432 watts.

 

the general rule of thumb is 1 T5 lamp for every 3 inches of tank width

so on a 18 inch wide tank - 6 would be perfect
on a 24 inch wide tank - 8 would be ideal

but IMO a 6 lamp fixture with quality bulbs and individual reflectors would work out on a 24 inch wide tank, simply because many people would not have corals as close to the tank walls front and back anyway
as long as the corals especially SPS are under the lamps, and not so far back or so far forward that they are in the shade then 6 would be fine IMO

Steve

 

That is a good deal. If you decide it is too much light you can always remove 2 bulbs. Just look into replacing the bulbs it comes with if they are included.

 

Thanks guys. I think I'm going to jump on it if it hasn't been sold then.