# Coral and Lighting



## fish2000 (Mar 2, 2008)

What can one 15 W 50/50 light support in terms of soft corals? Can it sustain polyps and mushrooms? 


Edit: I have this bulb 
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+4497&pcatid=4497


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## CarterNichols (Feb 28, 2008)

i would think the first question would be, how big is your tank... i believe it has something to do with watts per gallon..


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## i have crabs (Apr 30, 2006)

how deep is your tank is a better question. some zoo's or some mushrooms might do ok but probably only if the tank is shallow like 18" or if thier close to the top of the tank.


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## fish2000 (Mar 2, 2008)

The tank is a standard 20 gallon, one of the most generic 20 gallons avaliable. The tank is 16" deep. I actually plan to place them fairly close to the top like 5" away from the light source.

Watts per gallon, hmm. I don't think that the wattage at the bottom is very much considering what I have. Maybe that is why my live rock grows so slowly. The brown diatoms seems to have taken over a bit.


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

I would suggest at least a Nova Extreme T5HO Fixtures or Current USA Satellite Powercompact Lights. And if you have the money to throw around a Current USA Orbit PowerCompact Light. Get something that has about 10w more then your tank. that is what I do with all my tanks FW and SW it works great for me.


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## CarterNichols (Feb 28, 2008)

fish2000 said:


> Watts per gallon, hmm. I don't think that the wattage at the bottom is very much considering what I have. Maybe that is why my live rock grows so slowly. The brown diatoms seems to have taken over a bit.


diatoms are all over mine, TOS told me it is good and means that i'm doing it right.. i was worried :razz:


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

Oh yes diatoms are very important. That means cycle is almost done. My 3g tank had diatoms 2 days later cycle was done. but of course it depends on tank and etc..


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## fish2000 (Mar 2, 2008)

Will the diatoms go away (be replaced with other colored algae)? The brown mat over the glass is not very attractive  . 

Ahh, I've heard of the T5HO light. However, if I were to use any other type of light setup, I would need to retrofit my hood and I'm not good at stuff like that.

For the coral, I plan to just grow a few red or blue mushrooms. I read they don't need much light and I guess my one bulb will do fine if I put them at the top of the tank. Of course, I'll feed them too.


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## CarterNichols (Feb 28, 2008)

i have a 50/50 similar to yours and mine is growing more than just mushrooms (for now ) and yeah the diatoms do go away but it could take up to a few months, you could always get a few cheap snails, they love the stuff.


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## fish2000 (Mar 2, 2008)

My friend just gave me a small colony of button polyps. I placed them in the middle of my tank (fully cycled now). I understand that they need turbulent or surge like water flow. What I want to know is what quantifies as low to medium water flow and how would I orient my power head to achieve the turbulent type of water flow?

Do the polyps have to actually sway back and forth in order to have low to medium water flow? I know there is current but the polyps don't sway back and forth.

Thanks.


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

If I were you I would upgrade to a PC light. The Stock tank lights even with the "reef" bulbs arent very powerful. The fixture that Ricker mentioned is a nice setup.

I would set your powerhead so that the corals are slightly swaying, but it doesnt have to be anything drastic.


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## fish2000 (Mar 2, 2008)

I understand the lighting is weak, but that is the best I can do right now. How strong of a current do I need? Do the polyps have to be moving with the flow from the powerhead or is staying still fine too?


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2008)

fish2000 said:


> I understand the lighting is weak, but that is the best I can do right now. How strong of a current do I need? Do the polyps have to be moving with the flow from the powerhead or is staying still fine too?


If that is the strongest lighting you can have right now, don't keep coral.


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## fish2000 (Mar 2, 2008)

Very well I'll give the coral back to him.

But won't they grow under that lighting? I have them pretty high up in the tank. What exactly is this "low" level lighting anyways?

Thanks.


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

No, they will die under that lighting most likely. "Low" Lighting would be a relatively low wattage PC fixture, such as a 48w PC on a 20g. Something like this http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+11418&pcatid=11418 would be considered low light. Dont get me wrong, the thing I linked would be fine for growing some mushrooms and zoanthids. But most corals need lots more light then that.


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

i have the hagen glo series T5HO and i like it. it has very shiney reflectors xD


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## fish2000 (Mar 2, 2008)

How would polyps do under direct sunlight? I don't know the maximum wattage my hood and it is 18" so I'm kind of stuck unless I retro fit. I might during the comming break.

I've returned them to my friend but he still let me keep a small chunk with 3 polpys on it. Would and average of 4-5 hours of direct sun be enough per day?


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

You will have a huge algea bloom, and 4-5 hours wont really be enough for the coral. If the hood is a regular old aquarium hood it is not good. Its not all about wattage per se. Here is an excerpt on lighting from another forum.


> Different lights put out light in different spectrum. The color of the light matters. Different corals prefer light in different colors. And most coral will turn brown under the lights that we use to light our house. The wattage of the light doesn't matter(well it sorta does, more watts usually mean more lumans), its all about how efficient the lamp and reflector combo can get the watts into the tank. You need to have sufficient lumans.


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## fish2000 (Mar 2, 2008)

Thank you. How would I go about retrofitting?


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## fish2000 (Mar 2, 2008)

Sorry fo double post::

I don't know where to get retorfit materials. My tank has the current and water parameters for polyps but not the lighting. For right now, I'll use Al foil to increase reflection but that's about it for right now.


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

www.hellolights.com is a great lighting site.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

mushrooms, hairy mushrooms, and gsp would probably do fine in a tank with that lighting... and possibly some non-photosynthetic corals such as sun corals.


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## fish2000 (Mar 2, 2008)

really? Don't mushrooms need light too?


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

They do. The mushrooms would probably live under that light, but they would not be at their best IMO. You would be much better off upgrading.


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## fish2000 (Mar 2, 2008)

I replaced my 15W 50/50 with a 65W 50/50 Compact Fluorscent. The coral is doing great compared to what how they were before.

I was going for some T5s but I realized that none fit on my 20 gallon aquarium.


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

um, not true. u can get the 24 inch hagen glo series, even if it is a 20 long it will still get the job done


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

I know of some t5;s that fit fine on a 20g, but if you went with a 65g PC fixture, it doesnt matter. That should be fine for mushrooms, zoas, etc. Just place the corals accordingly to whether they need more light, more flow, etc.


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## fish2000 (Mar 2, 2008)

Oh, I just didn't find any then. Thanks though.


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## Guest (Mar 18, 2008)

PC is find for soft corals. That's currently what I have running on my reef tank.


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