Florescent lighting

[Fishy 1]

Hi guys I was thinking about whether you could use the twin florescent lighting setup that people have in sheds and stuff, to light low light corals like shrooms and the like. Is it possible or a stupid idea, its just the cost of lights are expensive.
An thoughts

 

[shifty51008]

You can but getting good color from them is a diffrent story. There are plenty of cheap fixtures out there that will work better. Check ebay, craigslist, ect.

 

[Fishy 1]

Cheers will go past them. Has anyone had the marineland double bright LED's, they look alright and can get them for about $110 on Amazon, but I don't know if they will run on 240v. Does anyone know if they will work

 

[shifty51008]

stay away from the marineland leds they are best for fish only even though they say reef ready.

 

[shifty51008]

http://www.fish-street.com/aqua_japan_6x_t5ho?category_id=144

that unit looks like a decent T5 fixture that runs on 240V and for a decent price. not sure how good the bulbs are but should grow any softies and some LPS at a min.

 

[Fishy 1]

http://www.fish-street.com/aqua_japan_6x_t5ho?category_id=144

that unit looks like a decent T5 fixture that runs on 240V and for a decent price. not sure how good the bulbs are but should grow any softies and some LPS at a min.

That looks great and at a good price too. I'd have to go for the 48'' and that comes to $130 which is acceptable. How much do you think shipping would be to Perth wa?

 

[Fishy 1]

That looks great and at a good price too. I'd have to go for the 48'' and that comes to $130 which is acceptable. How much do you think shipping would be to Perth wa?

Never mind I used there shipping calculator and to ship to Australia it is $137 so that brings it to $270 which is getting pricey I'll check on Amazon and see if I can find something cheaper.

 

[Fishy 1]

Could I keep some low light Corals under 2 t5s and a t8 if they are close to the surface?

 

[shifty51008]

Yeah youll be fine with softies with those lights.

 

[Fishy 1]

Yeah youll be fine with softies with those lights.

Could you name a few easy ones and how to look after them

 

[Fishy 1]

Thanks shifty your advice has been invaluable :thumbup: please keep it coming
If anyone has any questions about lighting feel free to post a question as shifty is here to help

 

[shifty51008]

good corals would be:

softies:
leathers
zoas
shrooms
kenya trees
hammer coral

LPS:
duncan
candy cane
torch

all those are farily easy to care for, the softies will do well with just your lights and good water parameters low nitrates low phosphates.

the LPS will do fine with just the lights and low nitrates, phosphates but you will also have to start watching your cal, alk, and mag levels. duncans also do better when spot fed regulary.

 

[Fishy 1]

Are there any corals I can grow under three t8s if I have the right Kelvin bulbs and the corals are fairly close to the surface?. The bulbs I have at the moment are a brand new marine blue and daylight, and a 15000k bulb.

 

[shifty51008]

Any of those softies i mentioned will do fine with the t8s

 

[Fishy 1]

Any of those softies i mentioned will do fine with the t8s

Awesome!!!! Do I need to keep them close to the top or could I put some lower down?

 

[shifty51008]

i would keep them in the upper half of the tank, you can try lower also and see how they do and move them up if needed.

 

[Fishy 1]

i would keep them in the upper half of the tank, you can try lower also and see how they do and move them up if needed.

OK, what do you recommend I try first( shrooms at my lfs are $60 :-O) so might wait a bit on them.

 

[shifty51008]

Wow thats spendy for shrooms, i would try a leather, green star polyps, or zoas, what every you can afford. Also looking for a local reefer is a good idea for cheap frags.

 

[Fishy 1]

Wow thats spendy for shrooms, i would try a leather, green star polyps, or zoas, what every you can afford. Also looking for a local reefer is a good idea for cheap frags.

OK, they have a nice leather for $25 which is much more affordable, but I need to let my tank sit for a bit longer. I love the look of zoas and GSP. Which one do you recommend for a carpeting type coral, as I have two rock piles and I'd love to have the smaller rock carpeted in a pretty coral

 

[shifty51008]

They both make good carpeting corals, zoas dont seem to over run a tank as easy as gsp though.