I have a 30 gallon tank and have mostly fish and live rock, but I did start to introduce corals. I added a rock with Star Polyps on it about a year ago.
I was using two 96W hi intensity bulbs, one 10,000k and one actinic. The other day my wife accidentally dropped the light fixture in to the tank while adding fresh water. Needless to say, the whole fixture was blown. Wife is ok, tank is ok - tripped the breaker on our socket.
I went to the fish store today to purchase a new light kit. At the recommendaton of the sales associate, I purchased a fixture with two 39W bulbs, T5 HO, one 10,000k, the other actinic. Now, this is 78W total. When I asked him if that was enough, he said it was since they were HO bulbs.
I'm not so sure of this recommendation and wanted to post it here to get some answers. Did I buy too little lighting or does the T5 give out more at lower wattage? Seems to me like I should have 4 to 6 bulbs rather than two. Isn't the rule of thumb 3 watts per every gallon? I want my polyps to grow, they've been dying off lately.
Any advice is helpful. Thanks.
Michael
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