View Full Version : Beginner corals for low light setups?
BavarianBuilt
06-16-2009, 9:31 PM
Hey everyone. To start, a little over a year ago I set up a new FOWLR setup in a 44 gallon tank. I just moved and ended up transplanting my water, LR, and fish into a new 29 gallon tank. The new 29 gallon tank is packed with the 45 or so lbs of live rock from my 44 gallon and looks great. I just have a Valentini Puffer and a Pseudochromis. I remember seeing a thread with beginner corals that require low light. Can anyone provide any information on this subject? I have a 30 watt halogen, so that's what I mean by low light. I have my live rock stacked to about 6 inches from my light. Unfortunately, upgrading to a more intense light is not an option now. Should I hold off on corals until I can get a decent light? Any info woul be great. TIA!
Conski
06-17-2009, 10:19 AM
I have a 24 watt, 10,000k and all i can have are LPS corals right now, so if i can have them then im sure you can too, and there are some pretty awsome lps. maybe with some righter lighting we both could go to SPS
BavarianBuilt
06-17-2009, 4:59 PM
Good info, thanks. Can anyone verify?
BadRoma1
06-17-2009, 5:31 PM
no, you don't want any corals that need light with 30w halogen. hold off untill you get better light or get corals that don't need light. don't buy sponges though, they are waste of money unless you want them for your angels.
DoctaQ
06-17-2009, 9:14 PM
interesting that you are using halogen on any fishtank, what kind of base is it?
if its a standard incandescent type fixture you could upgrade to cfls, more light and better color temp.
BavarianBuilt
06-17-2009, 10:52 PM
interesting that you are using halogen on any fishtank, what kind of base is it?
if its a standard incandescent type fixture you could upgrade to cfls, more light and better color temp.
I'm sorry. Good catch. I meant florescent. Any more info on this upgrade to CFLS?
Any ideas on corals that don't require light?
BadRoma1
06-17-2009, 11:04 PM
i have an idea on that ligh too. NO! i's still 30w and even with more watts you are very limited.
BadRoma1
06-17-2009, 11:06 PM
sun polyps need no lightbut must be fed
BavarianBuilt
06-18-2009, 1:14 AM
Thanks for the info. Like I said, unfortunately upgrading my light is not an option now. I started this thread to see what my options were and it appears they are slim to none. I'm not one to ask for advice and then disregard it so I suppose I'll wait until I get better lighting before venturing into the reef world :)
EDIT: Just out of curiosity, how about corals with a Nova Extreme T5HO 2x24watt?
BadRoma1
06-18-2009, 1:33 AM
DoctaQ is right though, changing the bulb will make colors of everything look much nicer
There are many corals that don't require a lot of light. Some chalices are not all that keen on light. Sun coral. zoas. Duncans don't require a whole lotta light. Really there are many many different types of corals that don't need the 150W MH lights or T5s. Just do some more research and you will find an abundance of nice lookin' coral that will do alright in a low light situation. In fact, there are folks that keep low light coral tanks by choice because of their particular interest in low light corals.
Make sure you post some pictures of your tank once you get it full of killer low lights. I think it would be cool to go barebottom with low light corals and inverts only.
Catch22
06-19-2009, 4:07 AM
Fox coral? Worth a try.
BadRoma1
06-19-2009, 5:26 PM
fox coral and kenya tree, yes, will do good even under compact fluoresent. however, do the math. he said he isn't going to upgrade the light at this time and changing a bulb isn't going to make a difference becaise it's still 1W per gallon
DoctaQ
06-19-2009, 6:27 PM
it depends on the type of halogen
halogen can be like those reptile light halogens that have like two little pins where the screw in part would be
if this is the case there isnt much you can do
but if its a screw in if you are running 30w halogen you could easily run 40w compact fluorescent, like 8 bucks online? or if youre in more of a pinch for cash than that you can head down to home depot and get a 26w cfl for a few dollars just make sure whatever you get is of a high spectrum. (6500k the blue package)
non light needing corals are much harder to take care of. they need to be fed each day, each polyp needs food and they will grow too, not a beginner coral
if you have the cash to try, get a mushroom and put it as high up on your rocks as possible.
by that i mean one single mushroom, right under your light. its worth a try.