Lighting for coraline

[ahud]

Hello,

I'm planning a 10g nano reef, but I am going to post pone adding corals until I see how maintaining the tank is going to be. If everything goes well and I enjoy the tank then I will invest in some reef lighting.

Could you fill me in on what type of light that will allow Coraline to grow? No need in not letting the tank "purple up" while I am in the reef or not to reef stage.

Just to make sure I get some answers, I'm wondering if any of the t5, t8, t12 or LEDS avaliable at my local home depot or lowes would work? Like I said, I would just be using the light to view my critters and hopefully get a head start on growing coraline.

Thank you,
Aaron

 

[thegrun]

I would go with either LEDs or T-5s. The advantage of LED is they produce less heat which is critical or a small nano tank. Coraline algae does not need a lot of light to grow, in fact it does not grow well under high amounts of lighting. Since it sounds like your long term goal is a reef tank, I would recommend investing in high quality lighting right away rather than buy an inexpensive fixture now and end up throwing it away in 6 months to purchasing a good light.

 

[ahud]

A reef is only the long term goal IF I enjoy the nano tank. I have had two larger tanks in the past that I did not enjoy, hence why I am taking it easy on this tank.

So can someone give me a little more input as far as what lighting would give me good coraline growth?

 

[stewartms]

Power compacts would be would be suitable for supporting coraline algae and would continue to work for mushrooms, softies and some LPS corals if you decided to move forward. A smaller tank is actually harder to maintain than a larger tank. If you did not enjoy the larger tank, I am not sure what you are looking for in the smaller tank.

 

[cloak]

For a 10 gallon tank one of these 15 watt normal output flourescent bulbs would work very well if coralline algae is what your after. Something like this.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754094&lmdn=Fish

 

[wilky9393]

be carefull what you wish for with coraline. it grows best under a 50/50 spectrum. theres different types but im assuming you want your tank purple!stay away from home depot and lowes for bulbs. start off with a power compact.lighting is a key factor for coraline to grow however calcium must me maintained as well. most important if you have no live rock with coraline it will take forever to get established.get some scrapings of coraline from a established tank and it will take off.keep in mind your water quality must be with in range also. 10 gallon nano? i bet within a year you will multiply that by 10 or 20!

 

[ahud]

What am I hoping to get out of a nano- all of the little life that I can't get in my freshwater tanks such as hermits, bristleworms, cool snails, ect. I did not like the larger tanks due to the money involved and the need to have large amounts of water on hand. Something about having a 1800 dollar tank setup and only enjoying the hermits and snails made me sell out.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'm just looking for a little purple to color up my rock since I'm holding off on coral.

 

[wilky9393]

do you have any live rock? if so does it have any coraline on it? if so i would measure calcium,magnesium,alkalinity. with the correct water parameters it will grow like crazy.
i cant stand it personally as my tanks are covered and scraping it off sux!
i have yet to find a benefit for having it with the exception of urchins chomping it down.