light duration?

[danepatrick]

i'm new to the forum as you can see . i'm going to be starting up a 20 gallon tank reef tank pretty soon. over it i will have 130 watts. i'm very used to lighting over fw planted aquariums as i am a wannabe guru and as some may know, your light duration depends on several things: wattage, tank sinze, dosing, etc. so with 130w over a 20 gallon tank, what would the ideal duration be in order to keep algae at bay, leaving the corals happy?

 

[Agu]

[welcome]

Reefs normally get 10 to 12 hours of light and that's what most people do for a photoperiod. With reef tanks nuisance algae is kept at bay by having pristine water conditions, using herbivores, and refugiums (to mention only a few techniques).

 

[fatrip]

would have to agree with agu, use a refungium...best thing i did for my tank...algea wise.

 

[drummereef]

I use a 12 hr light cycle where the actinics come on 1 hour before/after the daylights. I use pc lighting over my 40g.

 

[danepatrick]

what is the best thing to keep the brown algae at bay?

 

[drummereef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9744510#post9744510 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by danepatrick
what is the best thing to keep the brown algae at bay?

RO/DI water for newly mixed saltwater and top-off.

 

[danepatrick]

sorry guys, another question..

what beginner corals would you all sugest for my lighting?
would you recommend an internal, or external fuge? i'm looking to keep something smaller, maybe even hang on. what would be the best thing and how would/does it work?

 

[drummereef]

Are you doing a T5 or compact fluorescent fixture?

 

[danepatrick]

compact fluorescent 2x65w

 

[drummereef]

Ok then, you'd be able to keep any softie, polyp and most lps with that lighting. I even keep monti caps under my pc lighting but water quality is a must. For beginner corals I'd recommend green star polyps, zoas, mushrooms etc.... Toadstools, colt, kenya trees are fairly easy too.

I don't run a fuge on my 40g mixed reef. I do keep up on water changes and use RO/DI water so I keep excess nutrients under control. I'd add a skimmer before a fuge anyway. There are a few options out there if you aren't doing a sump. I run an AquaC Remora and it's fine for smaller tanks.