Lighting requirements for Soft Corals

[rebar]

Hello There,

I'm new to the Forum, and a new aquarist (9 months). I have a 55 Galon tank with live rock and fish (kole tang, flame hawk, flagfin angel, couple of different clowns, and other interesting folks). I have the most basic of light set ups (1 * 40 wt), and i want to upgrade to have enough lighting for soft corals. I don't want to go all the way to hard corals and SPS b/c I have plenty of fish and don't have a system to keep the nitrates low enough (i have an eheim canester filter and a protein skimmer). By the way, my nitrates are usually below 20 mm.

I was thinking of upgrading to a unit with 2 compact fl. bulbs 65wt each. Would 130 wts be enough for some basic soft corals?

Thank you in advance - rebar

 

[TimberTDI]

Welcome to Manhattan Reefs. Are you a wire lather by chance (rebar)?

Here's the thing, while 130w might be the bare minimum, you never know what the future holds. You may find that reef bug bit you and may want to keep other things. You don't want to get stuck buying things twice. Hang around a bit and keep an eye on the for sale forum. Our members often offer great deals on equipment.

Steven

 

[nanoreefer22]

Welcome to Manhattan Reefs.

Now before you get into corals you want to make sure that all your fish are Reef Safe. If you want to get corals, you'd have to get rid of those fish. I'm not sure but I think the angel and the hawkfish might be a problem. You could post a list on this thread of all the fish and inverts that you have and someone can tell you what can stay and what has to go, in order for you to get corals of course.

What protein skimmer are you currently running? And how often are you cleaning out the canister?

As for the light over a 55g since it is a tall tank for soft corals and soft corals only, I think that 2 x 96watt or 4 x 65watt would be OK if you are set on getting power compacts. If you are willing to look into other lighting options, maybe VHO or T-5, there would be a lot more available.

All I'd work on getting the nitrates down and what do the other parameters in the tank look like?

Also like Timber said, you never know what the future holds. You might get bit by the reef bug and want to go SPS or LPS eventually. Buying one set of lights now will benefit your pocket later, trust me I've had more upgrades in 2 years than people have had in their lifetimes.

Again Welcome to MR.

-krisEN

 

[TimberTDI]

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum...ro-48-canopy-black-two-4-fans.html#post221554

Don't know what your budget is but here's a great deal on 432w of T5 lights.

 

[rebar]

First, thanks for your help. i have to say, it's very nice to have advice from folks that have been doing this and know what they're doig.

Ok, so i guess my130 wt idea probably isn't the best. I don' t want to spend the money on lighting sufficient for hard/SPS corals because the way i'm seeing it is as a fish tank augmented with soft corals (therefore, i don't think i will ever be able to have my nitrates near 0). My life rock is covered with choraline algea, and i would like to have some color variation rather than all purple (even though its quite beuatiful). This is my reasoning for getting lighting that is good enough for soft corals but not much more.

Besides not planning on moving to a reef only tank, My concern with lighting strong enought for SPS/hard corals is threefold: 1) upfront cost (but i will pay for the right lighting); 2) monthly electricty cost a month; 3) side effects of very storng lighting (e.g., algea).

Are there any other side effects of strong lighting i should know about?

Here's the anser to the questions about my tanks:

- Fish: flagfin angel, 3 green chromies, kole tang, flame hawk, african midas blenny, skunk clown + cleaner shrimp, crab,

- protein skimmer: (sea clone) ok, i know i'm gonna hear it...get a new skimmer. is it really that bad?

- cleaning of cannister filter: every six months. is that ok?

- other paramters (ph around 8.2, 0 amonia and 0 nitrities). i need to start testing for other things, but i suspect i do have high phosphates (a little bit of brown algea).

Again, thanks for your hep.

p.s. rebar is just my first, middle, and last name abbreviated. Ricardo E. Barreras.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Protien skimmer is a seaclone, yes it is that bed. Cannister filter I clean mine every 2 weeks, at least pc lighting, but you may want to get something on the low end MH or the medium end T5. Start testing for phosphates and make sure you are using RO water for WC's and topoffs.

PS that Hawk may turn your shrimp into dinner soon.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

if i were you i would sell the fish that aren't reef safe this way you have some money for t5 lighting. i've seen a couple 4' t5 fixtures up for grabs on the forum.

there are many things to consider if you want to go w/ softies: RO/DI unit, get rid of that canister filter and get yourself some large aquaclear HOB filters and mod those into fuges, flow will also be important. get some seio powerheads for your corals(the fish will love it too).

 

[prattreef]

Welcome to MR.

All your fish are fine except perhaps the Flagfin.

I would seriously consider bypassing PC lighting and go with either T-5 or VHO as both of these options should allow you to keep pretty much anything you would want to in the future, save for a serious stony coral/calm tank.

I'd also ditch the canister filter and get a Magnum HOT to run carbon in, or if you want to use the canister, it should contain only carbon and it needs to be changed monthly or better.

Yes the skimmer should be upgraded too, I'd suggest an AquaC Remora or Remora Pro. But until then, just keep up with your water changes and you should be OK.

If your rocks are coralline covered and your nitrates are reasonably now, you are off to a good start.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask questions here.

Randy

 

[nycmat]

welcome

sell the flagfin if you dont know what you are doing with your corals they are tough to keep with sps. also you need to get a better skimmer. try the asm series. they are good and affordable. you will see a difference

 

[rebar]

Thanks for advice folks. one more question. someone suggested t5 lighting rather than PC. why?

 

[nanoreefer22]

Power Compact lighting is kind of outdated. T-5's would be 100x's better and would probably end up using less electricity. Yes the upfront cost may be a few more dollars, but you'll have MUCH better lighting and would be able to keep most anything you wanted depending on your water parameters. There are a lot of 48inch T-5 hoods and retro's selling right now, I'd jump on one of those.

Later on as you read more and more, especially about peoples experiences with power compacts, for the most part, you'll see why we're saying go T-5 or VHO. You won't regret it in the future.

-Kris