New to this 54 gallon corner.

[ncredibl]

Hey all. I'm new to Manhattan reefs, and new (2 months) to salt water tanks. As of now I have about 15 lbs of live rock, and will be adding some more over the next week or so. I have 2 clowns, a black and white damsel, a firefish goby, a peppermint shrimp(to kill the aptasia that came with the live rock) 2 snails and a crab. I will be adding coral within the month. I have been researching what lighting is sufficient for this tank, and I cant seem to come to a good conclusion. I want to sustain soft and hard coral. At the moment, I have 4 T5 24w bulbs (2 white, 2 actinic blue), which I know isn't enough. What suggestions can I get for my upgrade? Can I use the lighting I have and add an LED strip, or 2? I am trying to keep costs low.. Though it seems impossible. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Atsoi88]

When you say hard corals, do you mean LPS or SPS ? With LPS you may be able to get away with it if you house something hardy like a frogspawn or hammer. If your gonna try SPS, you are going to need T5ho, metal halides or LED's. With corner tanks its tricky finding a good lighting fixture to cover all parameters of the tank. Wht are the dimensions of your tank?

 

[thirty6]

Try catching that damsel before you add more rock, just my two cents. In the future you may want him out and will tear your tank apart trying

What's your budget for lighting, using a canopy or open top?

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

I had the 54 gallon corner now and I had 1 ai sol blue and I grew everything. And had clams and all , I had a custom bracket that held the ai centered over the tank , all i needed and it was perfect ( despite the nightmare of a tank) .

 

[Atsoi88]

Did u drill the tank, do u have a pic of the tanks with thr lights turned on?

 

[ncredibl]

I will not have a canopy. The pic I posted is with 2 of 4 24 watt t5 bulbs.