Triple 13 watt PC

[CoolWaters]

that comes to 39 watts and my tank is about 4-5g so 9.75-7.8 watts

thats more then enough for most hard coral right?

i was planning to get
2 50/50 (actinic 03/10k)
1 10k

and suggestions or changes?

 

[Mushroomman]

No, not for hard corals. Its not about wpg, that is misleading. It is depth, light intensity and type. Doesnt matter how big the tank is, depth is what you're looking at there. For example you have the 39 watts over your tank, sure it comes out to a high wpg, but it isnt comparable to 400 total watts of halide over a 55 gallon with a similar wpg.

I would probably go for 2 10,000K and then one 50/50, maybe 2 if one wont kick out enough blue colour for your tastes. Simply because actinics are more for aesthetics and it would be best to get as much lighting power out of the unit you could.

You could do the low lights and several of the moderate light ones, I wouldnt put sps under there though. Monti digitata would be a possibility, but it probably wont do so well.

 

[Lorna]

the monti won't color up nicely under pcs and it does under t5's or mh. It will survive but won't knock anyone out. Also, per your sig......a Rose Anemone is definitely out, don't even think about it in a 5-6g tank as this tank is way way too small and the rose anemone is bound to die due to lack of light (very high light demands) water quality (needs pristine established tank) and they get about 12" or so in diameter.....way to big for a tank this small. They are also very very susceptible to parameter fluctuations and won't handle the variables that a small tank has.......sorry. Get a fake one.

 

[TheFool]

WPG is bunk, and setups like this are living proof - you simply are not generating enough lumens to do the basic job of punching through the corals flesh to the xooanthellae. Especially as you're wasting two tubes on relatively useless actinic light. Low/medium light corals unders 2 10K's and an actinic might work well, but don't expect miracles, especially as you will need to right on the money for water quality, an equal component as light to well coloured corals

 

[CoolWaters]

Also, per your sig......a Rose Anemone is definitely out, don't even think about it in a 5-6g tank as this tank is way way too small and the rose anemone is bound to die due to lack of light (very high light demands) water quality (needs pristine established tank) and they get about 12" or so in diameter.....way to big for a tank this small. They are also very very susceptible to parameter fluctuations and won't handle the variables that a small tank has.......sorry. Get a fake one.

lol different project thos go in my 46g

WPG is bunk, and setups like this are living proof - you simply are not generating enough lumens to do the basic job of punching through the corals flesh to the xooanthellae. Especially as you're wasting two tubes on relatively useless actinic light. Low/medium light corals unders 2 10K's and an actinic might work well, but don't expect miracles, especially as you will need to right on the money for water quality, an equal component as light to well coloured corals

yeah just one 50/50 actinic is good enough for me.

i was acutally thinking about HO or VHO lights but they just dont make them small enough...

the smallest HM iv seen is a 50 watt but i cant seem to fine a good bulb for something that rare...

 

[CoolWaters]

the tank is only going to be about 9 3/4 inches tall. so about 2 or 3 of thoes lights will do.

their going to be on top of LRs (trying to get some thin slates.) so that should bring then up about 4".

btw light makes a big difference on LR...