Corals

[lebloom]

I have a power compact lighting 2/65W lights in a 48" strip. What type of corals do I have enough lighting for? How about clams?

My setup is a 75gal reef with about 100#, give or take a few, LR. I have approx. 170# of aragonite also in my tank.
4 fish total,
1 yellow tang
1 yellowtail damsel
2 clown fish
10-12 hermits, red and blues
3 queen conchs
2 turbos

My tank has been up and running with the LR and LS for over a year now. I started with CC and then changed over to the sand and rock.

I just purchased a couple pieces of rock about 2 weeks ago and both had some mushrooms growing on them, so far they are still living. Do mushrooms require lots of lighting? What about calcium? I have a piece of LR with polyps but they look as they aren't doing really that well, I can't tell.

[dreeves]

If 2, 65 watt pc lights is all you have, you are very limited on your coral selection and pretty much non existent on your clam selection. Even a squamosa clam should have more intense lighting available to it.

[g. mcclean]

I would say that you need twice that amount of lighting to have moderate to low light requirements. Check out the requirements of any coral that you want to add in regards to lighting. We have gone with the "rule of thumb" for 3 watts of light per gallon, but I believe that is minimum. Remember also that light spectrum also plays a part in lighting requirements. Calcium should be at 350-400 ppm, alkalinity 3.5-4.0 meq. If you begin dosing for calcium you must keep pH, calcium and alkalinity in balance. Hope this helps.

[mogurnda]

I agree with the above posts. 3 WPG is about the minimum, even for softies. You might try some mushrooms, as they are less light demanding.

If you are thinking about having more of a reef, upgrade the lights. With 2X96W compact fluorescent, you can probably get some softies to grow, with 4X96 you will have few limitations.

If the tank is stable, and you don't mind dosing for Ca (and alk), then I would suggest spending some money on lighting, you won't regret it. AH supply (http://www.ahsupply.com) has some excellent retrofit kits if your hood can accept them.

[a_free_bird73]

I am not going to say I disagree with what has been said but I will say that there are things you can do with your existing set up.

I have 1x30W standared flouro actinic and 2x15 Watt compacts on a 45G and doing rather well with a couple of softies and Large polyped corals and about to trial an SPS on that setup. There growth is slow (but they do grow) and that suits me fine.

It is the choice of corals, positioning as well as supplementary feeding if they are the type that will take it. It is possible that your water condition is not up to scratch and that is why whatever polyps you have are not doing well so it is not necessarly the light... You will need to do a bit of reading and experimenting but I would start by making sure water conditions are right and trying to put your existing polyps as close to the surface as possible (all my corals at this stage are within 8" of the light source)

[OrionGirl]

How long have you had the corals? Are you sure they are photosynthetic corals?

Corals, like most animals, have some reserves they can live off for a while, for periods when they are not getting adequate light--storms, cloudy water, sand storms. With feeding, this period can be quite long. However, if they coral begins bleaching (expelling the zooanthellae, the photosynthetic critters within their cells), they are on the way out.

[mogurnda]

I have 1x30W standared flouro actinic and 2x15 Watt compacts on a 45G and doing rather well with a couple of softies and Large polyped corals and about to trial an SPS on that setup. I'm with OrionGirl on this one. Until you see robust growth, I will be skeptical that this can work. I had that much light on a 20, with soft corals within 6" of the lights, and saw very little growth. Because the tank has a lot of filter feeders, it also got a lot of food and phyto.

Even if an experienced aquarist can make a setup like that work, why make your life harder when you're getting yor first corals?

[lebloom]

Onion Girl, I purchased the one piece of LR which had the polyps about 2 months ago. I have no idea what type of polyp it is photosynthetic or not. I have that piece of LR sitting about 6" from the lighting.

What about the mushrooms?

Where on the net can you find specific pictures for corals?

Is there a retro kit for most light strips out there? I have a smart light from custom sea light 48".

[a_free_bird73]

Mogurnda

I don't disagree with your statements. Something to keep in mind though. Here in Australia, Compact fluoro's suitable for aquariums are hard to come by and when you do find them they are seriously over priced. The same problem applies for halides. This means that we can't just take the easy option of putting high output lights on and pay the outrageous costs that you guys take for granted in the US.

I know of at least one commercial coral propagation farm that use only standard fluoro's on most of their tanks which is something you may laugh at, but from a cost/benefit perspective may not be such a bad thing.

The point is, if you have the money and the equipment, sure go ahead and do it the easy way. If you don't, that does not mean you just quit. You can still do it the "hard" way and it is just as much fun if not more. When I get my hand on a Digital Camera I will post picture of my "Bleached" corals!!