FOWLR to reef, what do I need?

You guys are slippin!

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=9870&Ntt=coralife%20mini&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1

p_15494_38036_mini_bulb.jpg


Maybe not the best, but who knows.

Xenia is a pretty easy one to tell if it's healthy. If it's opened up nicely, and pulsing like mad, then it's happy. If it's stunted, or only half is pulsing or whatever, then you have issues.

I'm not quite as experienced as some around here, but I'll give a few bits of info:

1. Xenia is considered a weed by a lot of people in the reefers community. It grows so friggin fast that it's almost hard to keep it from spreading all over your tank.

2. Because of #1, you can usually get it REALLY cheap. Which part of the world are you in? I'll bet you could find someone local who would give you some for cheap. I got some a few days ago for about $5. 3 stalks.

3. If you get the lights I posted above and stick them in your make shift lighting hood, you're going to want to put that xenia on the very top of your tank, as close to the lights as possible. Those lights might not be powerful enough, but you just never know.

4. Do you have test kits? Do you test even semi-frequently? If your water has no problems with nitrites/ammonia and especially nitrates, then you're already set to put whatever you want in there...no additional filtration needed. That is, if those good water readings stay pretty consistant.

Anyway, good luck. I just wouldn't spend too terrible much money on 1/2 assing it, really. If you plan on buying expensive coral from your LFS, I'd agree with those above saying to upgrade your lighting to a real fixture.

Of course, if you've never had a real light on that tank, chances are you'll be playing with algae pretty soon, too.

:-)
its lies...i have tried to keep all sorts of softies under them at my old work and in experiments...also have looked deep into them....they can provide just a bit to get along but the corals look like crap and die after a year or so after bleaching or malnutrition. xenia although is a different number...they feed off of many dissolved organics and it has yet to be fully understood...so the organics with the weak light can make them grow like crazy...they actually do better that way.
 
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