# saltwater 37gallon lighting



## keeperofthezoo (Aug 2, 2012)

Hello everyone. I have a saltwater tank with fish (a fish), snails and hermit crabs. I have 2 t5 2bulb 18 watt lights (2 blue and 2 6500) over it. Would this be enough to add some soft corals or do I need to upgrade to t5HO?


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

How deep is the tank? Do you have 4 bulbs total or just 2? I only ask because you mention you have 2 actinics and 2 65 Ks. Generally speaking if you have decent bulbs and you start your coral up higher in the tank you can get away with some easier soft corals such as mushrooms and palythoas, maybe some sinularia.


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## keeperofthezoo (Aug 2, 2012)

Thank you for responding. My tank is 20 inches deep. I also found another light fixture with another 2 18 watt 6500 bulbs. So I will be running a total of 2 blue and 4 6500 bulbs.

2 fixtures with one blue and one 6500.
1 fixture with 2 6500.


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

Should be good to go on many of the soft corals.


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## keeperofthezoo (Aug 2, 2012)

Thanks! I feel much better now. Now to go make a list of what I can add.


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

Once things are cycled and you are ready for coral I could probably send you some starter frags if you don't have some one to help you out where you're at.


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## keeperofthezoo (Aug 2, 2012)

Well, I bit the bullet and bought a 165 watt adjustable led light. It arrives next week. I picked up 3 frags - a duncan, Dragons eye and a finger coral. Sadly, the finger coral had aiptasia on it. So, I now have 2 peppermint shrimp who are in the process of hiding. the frags also came with some green stuff growing on it, but my hermit crabs ate it all. Lovely little fellows. I've also added 2 530gpm wavemakers (on timers), and I have my 100 gpm protien skimmer in place. All in all it's slowly coming together.


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

Ooh nice! What brand did you go with? And any pics of your new corals, I love duncans what color did you get?


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## keeperofthezoo (Aug 2, 2012)

The light is a Aquamana AQ. And I was mistaken, I didn't get a finger coral - it's a Xenia. The Duncan is tan with flourescant green. It already has a baby growing. I'll try and get a picture tomorrow - I don't take very good pictures.


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

I have yet to try that particular brand but it looks like it should do the trick. Are you going for a soft coral dominant tank or just going to mix it up?


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## keeperofthezoo (Aug 2, 2012)

Soft coral dominant. I really want a toadstool coral. I saw one in a saltwater tank once, and thought it was the coolest thing in there.


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

Whats funny is many clownfish will adopt an open sarcphyton as an anemone.they also come in a few varieties wich is nice to break up the color monotony or collect em all..If you payed shipping I could send you a small one for free,They grow fast enough.


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## keeperofthezoo (Aug 2, 2012)

I would love a toadstool, thank you! 


And here is a photo of my saltwater tank, a work in progress.


Please excuse the background, I haven't gotten around to removing it yet.


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

Nice lookin rock work, it leaves much room to swim in but still room for corals in the center structure. Needs some nice zoas in there too.


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## keeperofthezoo (Aug 2, 2012)

And a Photo with my new mushroom from badxgillen. It is a gorgeous mushroom, thank you! It loves it's new home on top of the rockwork. I did put a small piece of rock to block a little bit of the current until it settles in a bit more. And I moved the Duncan back to where he was origanally. He did not like the middle right side of the reef. So now he is happy. It's taken about 2 weeks to get the lights up to full brightness, and the corals are very happy now. Thank you every one for your help and suggestions.



Corals : Duncan, tyrll green mushroom, xenia, red and green zoa's, tracaphyllia.

Now they need time to grow bigger.


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

Glad he made the long trip from Oregon, I am sure he is happy to be in a nice aquarium such as yours. Take care of him and he will get pretty good sized and even brighter green, clownfish love to host them like anemones.


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