Lights

[danny]

Hi all,

I have to say that I have done quite a bit of reading on here and a few other places and I'm still beating myself on the head trying to understand all the different lighting that's out there and what I should look for. My current setup is a regular ol' 55 gallon with crushed coral bedding, running a rena xp2 and a ?koralide? 3 (don't remember the name) for flow right now.

I have no lights or anything covering the top right now. This is what I need help with. What I would like to do is have some live rock and a few fish. I want to start off slow until I get the hang of it. I def don't want to kill stuff right off the bat. My water looks and tests good as the tank has been cycling for about 2 weeks so I'm at a point where I can bring things in but I need the lighting.

Can someone steer me in the right direction? ****, if anyone has anything that will work for me that they would like to sell I'd be much obliged. Thanks for reading!

Danny

[RayAllen]

Hi all,

I have to say that I have done quite a bit of reading on here and a few other places and I'm still beating myself on the head trying to understand all the different lighting that's out there and what I should look for. My current setup is a regular ol' 55 gallon with crushed coral bedding, running a rena xp2 and a ?koralide? 3 (don't remember the name) for flow right now.

I have no lights or anything covering the top right now. This is what I need help with. What I would like to do is have some live rock and a few fish. I want to start off slow until I get the hang of it. I def don't want to kill stuff right off the bat. My water looks and tests good as the tank has been cycling for about 2 weeks so I'm at a point where I can bring things in but I need the lighting.

Can someone steer me in the right direction? ****, if anyone has anything that will work for me that they would like to sell I'd be much obliged. Thanks for reading!

Danny

Lets start from the beggining. You sound new to reefs. Your tank at two weeks is not ready for corals, especially since you havnt added Live Rock. The rock you buy will most likely be uncured meaning that it will have die off that will take the tank through a few weeks timed cycle. If you buy cured rock it will save you some time but you will be paying a premium price usually $8+ per lb. For a 55g you will need at least 60lbs of rock more is better. Live rock provides vital filtration for your tank and its inhabitants. We are all going to suggest adding a protein skimmer to your setup. This is widely considered the most important peice of equipment in the hobby. If you truely want happy critters, invest in a decent skimmer. You may also look into running a sump which will provide more water volume, placed to hide equipment like skimmers, heaters etc.... As for ligting - this depends on what you plan to keep. As a beginner I would say Softies and some LPS. Power compacts, VHO, and T5 are perfect for these. You usually want to try and have more than 3watts per gallon. Closer to 4 watts is better. Keep reading and researching so that you learn as much as possible and please let your tank cycle properly and give it time before adding anything. You will be much happier with the outcome...

Ray

[envy]

good said Rayallen research on what type of fish you plan on getting aswell because not all fish can go in together and some fish might outgrow your tank so research this before adding any. next adding live rock will be your best way to start even if it is a little bit at a time you can go from there. wolf reefs got a big shipment a couple of days ago on live rock so might be a good place to hit up for live rock and might also have the lowest price in town at around $2lb. if not try fintique at $5lb and so on etc.

[envy]

also some people have pvc piping in there tank to support live rock so this is another route to go and won't have to worry about spending so much on LR. once you do this your light will be the biggest impact based on the route you pick (coral). also researching on this topic might also be good. remember some corals like dim light others moderate and some like bright. same thing goes with current on certain corals and some corals do better in some tanks than others. good starting off tank just don't get hooked and start adding everything and anything without research and give it time so add something and wait a couple of weeks before adding something(time to research on something new or newly aquried species). also don't buy every chemical people tell you some work better than other and have different affects on certain tanks. don't forget to test your tank on water parameters and what you are dosing for. so research research research
good luck and welcome.

[Fish4life]

Pay a little more for higher end equipment. You will save in the long run. If i was you i would choose b/w a 4x65w pc unit, 2x175w MH or 4x54w HO t5 (icecap or tekII reflectors, triad or icecap ballasts). It all depends on what your going to want to keep. Keep in mind, most new hobbists go sps after a while, so you might want to invest in the equipment to house sps and keep lps and softies till you get the hang of things.

just my 2 cents.

cheers,

kurt

[erikharrison]

A big thing that I have not seen covered yet is a deep sandbed. Before I had one in my display, (you can do one in a sump too) I would put a piece of sps in it and it would die. I figured out the problem. My ca/alk was swinging from lights off to lights on and that will kill a coral. I have something like 120-140 lbs of live sand in my display and another 60lbs in my sump. My sump is just an aquarium with 60lbs of sand, it houses my skimmer, UV, and return pump. Every spare inch that is under water is completely packed with live rock. About 40-50 lbs. In the display I have about 140-180 lbs of live rock.

Is my system stable?
yes. It sure should be, I have all of that packed into a 75 gallon/29 gallon sump

Rock, Sand, Skimmer. Then lights... in my opinion.

You could probably get a T5 High Output (HO) fixture with two bulbs for fairly inexpensive. Granted, it will probably only have one reflector for all of the lights, but it should definitely get you headed in the right direction.

[RayAllen]

I never mention DSB+ Deep sand beds because there is a on going debate on what is better. Many love DSB, many dont care for them and run BB = bare bottom with more sucsess.

[erikharrison]

Yeah, the reason I mentioned it is because I can almost completely say that was the sole reason that I could keep sps. I killed a few frags here and there before that, trying to get down to a root cause, and after posting here, Brian led me down the path of the swing inbetween light cycles. I did keep a light over my sump which worked until I got the sand. Once I got the sand, I put it in and turned the light off. No dead corals. :)

I too have read all about that debate, and I think the reason that people have success in BB tanks is due to the fact that they do incoporate a fuge in there somewhere that is lit either opposite the light cycle, or they run 24/7. That has been my perception of that whole ordeal.

They do also help with Natural Nitrate Reduction. I am on the internet way too much. Then again, so is Ray, lol.

[RayAllen]

LOL, we are on the internet way to much.