Lighting question

[Davidb6]

I have an empty tank, some sand and a good amount of (dead) rock. I’d like to get some use out of this stuff and convert the rock to live rock at the same time. Rather than just having a tank full of rock for many many months I thought I would try to make it a bit more interesting.

45 gal (36x12x22h) tank, live sand, rock, some interesting inverts, maybe a fish or two…that’s it.

Any recommendations on the light?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

Are you doing any corals? If not...no point in anything other than like a Normal output fluorescent strip light.. And you'll need to get a bit of live rock to turn your dead rock live.

 

[deklin]

Lighting depends on what you want to put in it. Only corals, clams and coraline algae need more than just minimal stock lighting.

If you're just planning on having a few fish and inverts, you'd be find with just a basic flourescent tank lighting that is sold standard with most starter aquariums.

Live rock does not need lighting, although if you are interested in growing coraline algae on the rock then yes you'll need a new lighting fixture. If you have dead rock, you should buy a small amount of live rock and place it in the same tank so that you can begin to seed your dead over the course of several months.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

Only corals, clams and coraline algae need more than just minimal stock lighting.

coraline alga does not need very much light at all. Its growing in my sump off of i assume just ambient room light since there is no light in there and only an inch gap between the tank stand and the wall behind it. Some say it grows better under lower lighting too, because some that have strong halides have trouble growing it.

 

[deklin]

Different kinds of coraline have different lighting requirements. The deep red kind is low lighting while purple coraline usually requires moderate lighting and the light green and pink varieties require high lighting.

People who upgrade their lighting and experience coraline die off should be loosing lower light species that should eventually be replaced by higher light species.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

hmm...i got dark/blood red and purple/pinks in the same tank? lol.

 

[Davidb6]

No hard or soft corals in this “rock” tank, however, I do want a great growth of all kinds of coralline algae and some interesting inverts to add to the appearance and health of the tank.

This is the first I heard coralline algae was growing in a sump with very low lighting.

So, to be on the safe side…what do you think? Obviously no MH…a couple of T5s….maybe just a couple of HO??

Or is the consensus I can do it with just an off-the-shelf standard aquarium light? This would be very surprising to me.

Thanks

 

[CarmieJo]

For sure you can grow coralline with PC lights. I have it growing in my fuge with a 23w CF plant light.