Live Rock lighting

R

Redneck

AC Members
Mar 2, 2003
13
0
0
Kentucky
www.angelfire.com
I just got some really nice looking live rock in my tank. I was wanting to do the best I could to promote the coraline (sp?) alge and other growths to spread throughout the other rocks in the tank. The other rocks used to be live but a 12day power outage last winter killed everything off.

Its in a 72 bow so it is fairly deep. The lighting on it now is a Power compact w/ the two bulbs that came with it, and a 4ft 50/50 bulb. The 50/50 is more on the front of the tank so not much gets to the rock, which is stacked against the back.

Should I change the bulbs in the power compact? I don't have corals anymore, and Im not sure if I'll get more again, but its always a possibility.

Thanks
Red
 
Personally, I wouldn't bother upgrading the lighting unless you plan to get corals. With what you have you should still get some nice colors for the coralline.
 
our LFS has some low (36" VHO's) on his show tank, and he has amazing coraline algae growth. Every inch of his rock is deep purple. I do not know if the rock was purchased this way, or if it has grown this way from scratch, but it looks nice anyway.
 
Just curious, does the coraline growth ever spread to the base rock? I saw some at a lfs and i swear it had greenish stuff growing on it. Do you usually put live rock over the base so the base is not visible?
 
Yes and yes. Just give it a few months to a year. Then the base rock should start to look like your store bought live rock.
 
in a few months, you should notice splotched of coraline growth on base rock. You will even get splotches of coraline growth on your aquarium walls, powerheads, and coraline base. I do not know if it will grow on a sand base, but I would guess if it will grow on glass, it will grow on sand.
 
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