...spot lighting..?

W.Glint · Mar 18, 2012

Im not sure if there is a term for this or not, but what im looking / asking to do is only light part of my tank with high inteseity lighting for corals, instead of the entire thing. :)

The reason im asking this is because im just starting my cycle on my 'baby', aka my new 90g tank. i have been planning this thing for the last 6 months, so filling it up was one heck of a moment lol.

Anyways, i had originaly only planed to go FOWRL just because thats all ive been interested in, you know- get the dream fish and sit back and enjoy to no end. BUT i have always toyed with the idea of corals, nems, etc.. but i dont want to heavily invest in lighting if i never really get into it. so far the only lighting i have over this tank is a basic 4 bulb florecent light fixture that came with the canopy. I realize this is not even close to reef lighting, but it works, so why change it, but i digress. I have 2 24'' coralife dual blub fixtures, both with a 10k and actinc 24W bulbs in them. l. i was wondering if i put these on one side of the tank, could i keep some less needy light wise corals, specificly mushrooms on the upper levels of my rock? because im still in the aquascaping and i could pretty much raise the 'roof' of the rock as high up to the surface as i want.

i honestly dont know much about them, but from what i get, they are some of the more easy to care for? im just looking to see if this would be enough, and if not, how much more lighting would i need? i want to 'put my foot in the door' so to speak to the reef'ing scene, because at somepoint down the road, i do want to get a nem' for my maroon, but like i said, down the road. Also i have toyed with the idea of keeping a 'mini reef' in a spare 10 gallon hooked up to the big system? not sure, but its a possibility i have thought of. ( would the 2 coralife's be enough for that? )

Any advice would be great, thanks for taking the time to read this lol, a bit long winded :O

Edit: i failed to mention tank specs :O
90 gallon display, 30 gallon sump
all RO/DI water / water changes
MRC-RC2 skimmer with 55hp pump
Filter socks + carbon
(new tank, so no water param's yet, but i plan to keep it pristine, like my other tank)

iamvictor2k · Mar 18, 2012

thats pretty much my same question except i have a reef in a 14g bio cube that i want to move over to my 125 that i had set up as fresh water. looking on ebay at a 24 inch dull t5 light with 65w bulbs total of 130w for 80 bucks. will hang it on the side of my tank and build a platform to go half way up the tank to stack my lr onto. I wont have to go all the way to the top with what i have now because the light on the bio cube sucks lol. good luck on finding answers to that. ill be monitoring your thread

W.Glint · Mar 18, 2012

Anyone?

returnofsid · Mar 18, 2012

With your current lighting, you could keep some, probably most soft corals and maybe even some LPS corals. Don't let anyone tell you that a "reef tank" needs intense lighting. With standard fluorescents, you can easily keep Mushrooms, Kenya Tree, Xania, Leathers, etc. If kept higher in the tank, your 4 standard fluorescent bulbs would likely support LPS such as Frogspawn, Bubble Coral (kept in indirect flow), Echinophyllia (Chalices), Zoanthids etc.

An anemone will require more lighting, so, down the road, you will want to consider upgrading. I'd highly suggest looking at a 6 bulb T5HO fixture, such as a Tek5. That'll easily support any corals, including the high light demanding SPS corals, in your tank.

Reef Breeders · Mar 18, 2012

Light the whole thing with t-5 s you can get a 6 bulb on ebay cheap. Just be sure to replace the bulbs with name brand. And with a reef, you must be careful with what fish you add, some will eat your corals.

W.Glint · Mar 19, 2012

thanks for the advice guys. Anemonekeeper- im not really planning on going full reef here, i just wanted to know if i could 'dable' with what i have. i do have another question though: at my lfs they have a few different MH pendents quite cheep and i was thinking of getting one of them too. whats the difference between a 150w, and 250W, and even 75w?

Reef Breeders · Mar 19, 2012

The brightness. Higher wattage=brighter. I would go with a 14k color, in either 175 watt single ended, or 250 watt double ended. You will need 2 for a 90 gallon, or just one for the middle, and you could keep some sps in the middle top, and softies elsewhere. Leds are always an option if you want to go full reef and save some power :)