Nano Reef Lighting Help

i am thinking about starting a 10 or 20 gallon nano reef. this is my first time w/ corals, i only have had FOWLR's so far. anyway, i was wondering if i would need any special lighting for just some beginner low maintenence corals, i especially want polyps. What is a cheap way to go? Can i just get higher power flourescent bulb(higher than regular freshwater) to go in my fixture that came w/ my 20g to support a few lower light requiring corals? FYI, i will probably start a thread about this future setup(not just for the lighting).

 

I have a 24g nano with just pc lighting built in, and it kind of sucks being limited on what I could do to it. So I set up a 10 gallon reef with t-5s so I have alot more options. IMO you can get good lights for it for around 120-150 for t-5s. I would spring for it now rather then be unsatisfied later.

 

im ok with the limited options of lower lighting. But yea, way out of my budget. Anyway, i am a complete noob to special lighting, so, um, what exactly is PC lighting? Is it cheap?

 

thats the lowest end of lighting its called power compacts. It runs hot, its cheap initially but the bulbs don't last as long, their more expensive, and their slowing being phased out. I bought a PC lighting fixture for 50 that had about 36 watts of power and I took it back and got a t-5 system for like 120ish that is 48 watts and looks way better and brighter.

 

i looked it up and i guess i'll have to go w/ the the pc although i wish i had the budget for T-5 right now.

 

Check out Aqua Traders, cheap fixtures but are quite nice for the price. Especially for small tanks. PC will grow softies fine. Just make sure you have some kind of actinic bulb in the fixture or you may lose some color in the coral.

 

you dont mean more than 1 bulb right?

 

You could do two bulbs, one actinic one daylight. Or they have whats called a 50/50 pc bulb. I prefer two bulbs but you can run just the one 50/50.

 

if i run the 1 actinic bulb, can that support the same corals that you mentioned earlier?