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lighting for 37" tall tank


teg

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My tank is 72x21x37, it have been running on 8 T5 bulbs for years when my friend had this tank. Would the current T5 fixture be able to give enough light for anemone (I dont have any anemone yet)? I got some buttons at the bottom of the tank and they open up really good with just 1/2 of the light capacity on; so I'm not sure if metal halide would cause trouble for the zoas higher up in the thank. I'm looking to upgrade to metal halide in the future; do you guys think 2 250w bulb will do? or should I get 2 400w or 3 250w.

thanks

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Anything over 30" it is recommended to run 400w mh. You would want to have 3x400w for a 72" tank. I don't think it would be a good idea to put an anemone it this tank with only T5's. Zoas can be placed in many locations in the tank but with 400w you would probably want to stay in the bottom 2/3.

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3? I'd be running a minimum of 4 if not 5. Most uber reefers that I know that were running 220g tanks with about those dimensions but not depth were running 4x 400w. probably overkill but it worked nicely.

But if all I wanted to do was to highlight one anemone or a clam I'd consider running only 1 400w halide directly over the area. That way if I'm not going ultra SPS I don't waste the energy, money and bulbs lighting an entire tank for only 1 creature.

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My tank is 72x21x37, it have been running on 8 T5 bulbs for years when my friend had this tank. Would the current T5 fixture be able to give enough light for anemone (I dont have any anemone yet)? I got some buttons at the bottom of the tank and they open up really good with just 1/2 of the light capacity on; so I'm not sure if metal halide would cause trouble for the zoas higher up in the thank. I'm looking to upgrade to metal halide in the future; do you guys think 2 250w bulb will do? or should I get 2 400w or 3 250w.

thanks

It also depends on the type of anemone and where you place it in the tank (or where it decides to live)....

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