T5 lighting

Will my t5 light heat up my 48 gallon tank the fixture is 159 watt

 

yes just run a clip on fan across the top of it. and you will be ok. and for the bonus it will prolong the bulb life.

 

No offense but how do you know it will? You didn't ask what fixture it is?

If it is a nice quality one that has good cooling and a acrylic splash shield, my guess is not by much if all....

Aquactinics for example, you could place a TX5 or Constellation right on the tank frame and I would say the temperature raise would be a minimum...
Tek or other fixture, well thats another story...

What kind of fixture do you have newreef15?

 

Aquatic life 36 inch t5 fixture

And what kind of corals can I do with this fixture

 

If your fixture has legs it shouldn't heat the water much at all. T5s are by far the coolest running bulbs. My fixture barely gets warm and there is only one tiny little fan that cools the ballasts once they reach a certain temp.

 

I sounds good my has two large computer fans

So if my wAter temp is low should I get a heater

 

You should always have a heater just in case. If the water never drops low enough for the heater to turn on then no harm no foul but if something you dont expect happens and your temps drop fast it could spell disaster.

 

+1 on that! It will help keep your tank a little more stable in the cold days. Make sure to test the water temp often when you are first getting your heater tweaked.

 

i live in south florida it dosent get cool lol

 

I run a Tek 8x54W over my 90g. The fixuture is about six inches off the top of the tank. I have two four inch fans that I only have on during the warmer days. The Teks will raise the water temp two or three degrees. The fans will decrease the temp about two degrees.

However, the evaporation is phenomenal. An amazing amount of water evaporates with those fans going. So beware.

This is a visual of my setup.......