What would be the MINIMUM wattage of light for coral?

Question

i have a small tank that i have set up for a reef. the pet shop said you could try the light i have which is 11watts because the tank is shallow and the corals will be up top. Do you think this will work or what wattage would i have to use

The light in my tank is a 11w compact floresent lght and my tank is only 10inches deep

Answer 1

The proper intensity for corals is 3-5 watts per gallon, so your system would be fine for a 2-3 gallon tank. Some corals require more intense lighting.

Along with wattage, you also need to figure in distance from the light (depth) because different tanks of the same volume can have different measurements.

Different types of light will produce different results at the same depth. A standard fluorescent tube is the least acceptable of the lighting systems. A compact fluorescent or T-5 are the bare minimum, and metal halides are the top of te line (but would probably be too bright for your tank). But 100 watts of fluorescent will look much dimmer than 100 watts of any of the compacts, which will look different from the metal halides.

You also need to consider the spectrum, or wavelength of the light, because corals need a wavelength they can use for photosynthesis.

On my 29 gallon tank (which is the closest I have in size to yours) I have 130 watts of light, one 10,000K of 65 watts and a 65 watt 03 actinic.

Answer 2

Watts per gal is a GENERAL rule for standard size tanks, If you have a taller tank you would of course need more light and a shorter tank would need less light.
I think 11watts for any CORAL tank is too small.
If you are just keeping soft corals in a 10 gal tank, 35watts would be great.
I would double that if you wan't to keep (Healthy) hard corals or clams.
YES you can just move everything closer to the surface but for a more beautiful and natural viewing experiance you will want to have your Corals spaced out throughout the tank.
I have 4x 54w t5 actinic lights plus 2x 250w 12k Metal Halide lights in my 75 gal REEF tank which makes it WAY over the GENERAL rule but it gives me NO LIMIT as to what I can put in the tank and where I can place the animals.
My Crocea Clams which NEED tons of light are Placed on the BOTTOM of the tank where I can enjoy there full beauty unlike placing them on the top where you can't see inside them.
When it comes to keeping CORALS, My personal general rule is the more (Proper) light that you can afford, the better.

Answer 3

Theoretically it is going to not count too lots what furniture you employ see you later as they are in the acceptable Kelvin spectrum: ie. working an Actinic and a separate mild between 10,000 and 20,000k. And secondly, you'll want approximately 3-5 watts consistent with gallon. VHO and metallic Halides are the main versatile in terms of color and intensity. On small tanks you are going to be waiting to flee with power compacts. prevalent T-8's may well be all yet impossible for in simple terms approximately all anemone's and all however the backside mild required corals or those very few that are non-photosynthetic mutually with Dendronephtya or Tubastrea faulkneri, nevertheless those comprise their very own very particular situations. an exceedingly final option, and what i'm working in my latest tank is severe intensity LED's nevertheless be arranged to drop some serious money. some large beginner Corals: green famous individual Polyp Mushrooms leather-based's For Anemone's in case you're actually not desirous to host a clownfish: Condylactis or Condy Anemone's are going to be the main inexpensive and easiest. For clownfish learn for the particular species. in simple terms know that an anemone won't continuously pair up. additionally be certain to feed you anemone. I feed mine two times each and every week.

Answer 4

it is true that watts per gallon is a good rule of thumb, but it's a little old fshioned. (kinda like inches per gallon) if they stay close enough to the surface then even some clams can be kept under t5's.
i have a 29 biocube with 2 35 watts PC's and i have brain corals and acrocorpas in there. i just keep them in the upper few inches of the tank.
it also depends what corals you want. shrooms, xenia, and softs (usually) are fairly low wattage corals.

Answer 5

coral needs alot of light
it would be better to know whatt size tank you got
to determine what wattage but i think 11 watts will be fine
and if its any where near a ten gallon
your going to have to monitor the aquarium constantly
and have a very good filter two make sure there are no fluxuations with the temp and water quality