20g Long

[Ansphire]

Hey peps. .. I was thinking.. what If I keep a 20g Long instead of a 29g.. Its the same footprint but much less height...

What can I keep under a 50/50 55w compact fluorescent in a 20g LOng?

 

[ChrisRD]

If you're not planning on keeping stuff that branches and grows tall, the 20 would be fine. Personally, I'd probably get the 29.

As for what you can keep under the single 55w lamp - IME you'll be limited to low light corals. Personally I'd go with two lamps as it would leave a lot more options...

 

[Ansphire]

what would you consider low light corals??

 

[ChrisRD]

For example mushrooms and zoanthids will survive under the single lamp setup, but they will look/grow better under the 2 X 55 setup. If you go to 2 X 55 you could also keep some of the less light demanding LPS or leathers as well.

Even with the 2 X 55 setup I'd avoid any of the more light demanding stuff. If you're interested in keeping higher light animals, personally, I would look into T-5s with individual reflectors or a single 150 watt DE halide pendent.

This is just based on my own experiences of course - others may have different opinions...

 

[Ansphire]

Does this apply to the 29g as well??..

 

[ChrisRD]

Yeah - just plan on keeping the more light demanding animals in the upper half of the tank...

 

[extremepb319]

I dont keep any corals except for 1 leather coral and i used to have a 20 long, and then i switched to a 29. The 29 really opens up your options for corals that grow high. I would go with the 29 for the more volume and height aspect. But i dont know much on lighting for corals sorry. HTH