Lighting for Soft Corals

[Flame Hawkfish]

Hi Everyone,

I really would like some soft corals down the road. In like a few months.
I was wondering if T8 lighting would work for just a soft coral reef tank. I was
also wondering what soft corals eat and what do you feed your soft corals.
Lastly I was wondering if you could list all of the soft corals I could have.:roll:



Thanks so much,
Flame Hawkfish

 

[TJ's Reef]

I would need a bit more information to fully answer your questions but yes T8 lighting could be sufficient for many Soft Corals. It will depend on tank size, number and color of lamps then depending on age and makeup of system as to having a need to feed or not. A few very tolerant species would be Sinularia, Nepthia, Sarcophyton, Xenia and Lobophytum species and would give you a nice selection of colors and shapes.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Flame Hawkfish]

Tank is 55 gallon. I will have either 2 or 4 lamps. Color is a tint of blue.
Does that help at all?

Thanks again,
Flame hawkfish

 

[TJ's Reef]

If you go the 4-lamp route then most of above mentioned Corals would do fine. You would also be good to go with many LPS Corals as well. Not to sure anymore on what type of selection you'd get with T8's but in a 4-lamp setup going with three on the Blue/actinic side and one in Daylight/White would give you some nice colors. Or go two of each for a Crisper White look.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Reefing Madness]

I was thinking more along the lines of using the Power Compact lighting for softies. I know they used to use T8 back in the day, but the growth was horrible compared to Power Compacts.