Lighting Requirements

[jlane1980]

Hi,
I have an Aqua One AR 620T, and will be running 2 x PL18W Triphoshor / Marine Blue Mix 7.1K / 12K Tube. As seen HERE!
Feel free to red my journal, below, to find out more.
My plan, as far as corals go, though, i to have a Zoa garden at the bottom of the tank, with some mushrooms and ricordias further towards the top. My concern is, my lighting won't be good enough. I realise that, because i have a tall tank (essentially 2 tanks on top of each other) i lose alot of light 'power'/strength towards the bottom of the tank. Will the lights above be sufficient, or should i be aiming for some other tubes?
Also, rather than buy a whole new light fitting (if that is the case), would i be able to supliment what i already have with LED's, or anything like that?
Not sure if this is a bit too adventurous, but i'm thinking of possibly putting some LED's under a shelf of live rock, to 'bathe' any lower leveled corals. It's just an idea, but has it been tried before? Is it even possible and/or advisable?

Thanks

Jon

edit - link updated, now working!

 

[fishguy2727]

The link didn't work. Is this a standard fluorescent (T8), compact fluorescent fixture, or what?

I have yet to be impressed with LEDs, I just don't think they are there yet. If you have room you can add a second fixture (your current fixture is slimm enough and you have a glass canopy). If you do this then get a HOT5 with two bulbs and individual curved reflectors.

The good thing about those types of corals is that they can do well under almost any lighting. The bad thing is that although they will be alive, they will be brown and ugly. In addition, I can almost guarantee that six months down the road you will want some of the more advanced corals.

 

[sorgan]

And why would they be brown and ugly? So it's a 90lt tank? Ok get a few aquaray strips (I have 2 over an lps tank and I love them) and you will have ample lighting for softies in the top half of your tank.

This doesn't mean that the bottom half wouldhave to be empty as I can name a good few corals that would love a low light environment.

 

[jlane1980]

Sorry,

The link is now fixed! I take it, by what you're saying, that i can't have as i've planned? Would the Zoas etc not be happy with my lighting?

 

[sorgan]

If they where right at the top then yes, lower down you would need extra light and/or supplimental feeding.

 

[jlane1980]

If they where right at the top then yes, lower down you would need extra light and/or supplimental feeding.

OK, what extra lighting would you recommend, and what do you mean by supplemental feeding?

 

[jlane1980]

And what about these lights, instead - 18W, 8K??

What is it that determines how good the lights are? is it the W, as in 18W, or the K in 8K?

Sorry for pestering, but i'm completely clueless when it comes to lighting!

You said earlier about some corals that like lower light levels, what if I were to have the Zoa's towards the top, with the other corals beneath? What other, lower light corals, would you suggest would work?

Thanks, and again... sorry!

 

[sorgan]

Well I actually like LED's for extra lighting, some people don't but I do.

And regarding feeding, all corals feed from the water column one way or another, even photosynthetic ones.
Corals that don't get fed will need more zooxanthellae to produce the energy needed to grow, if there isn't enough light they turn drab colours as zooxanthellae is browny in colour. Feeding corals with amino acids, plankton and particulate foods will help them get more enegy with less zooxanthellae, therefore they will be brighter and will not need such high amounts of light to thrive.

W is the intensity of light, higher is better, k is colour.

 

[jlane1980]

Well I actually like LED's for extra lighting, some people don't but I do.

And regarding feeding, all corals feed from the water column one way or another, even photosynthetic ones.
Corals that don't get fed will need more zooxanthellae to produce the energy needed to grow, if there isn't enough light they turn drab colours as zooxanthellae is browny in colour. Feeding corals with amino acids, plankton and particulate foods will help them get more enegy with less zooxanthellae, therefore they will be brighter and will not need such high amounts of light to thrive.

W is the intensity of light, higher is better, k is colour.

So a 36W light x 2. Would that be sufficient for my plans, or suplement with LED's??

I found these lights - here. I'm thinking of the 8K, marine blue one's. Are they any good?

 

[fishguy2727]

Any coral will brown out under weaker lighting. Their bright colors are their protection from UV, it is how they tan. With weak light they don't need it so they won't be colorful.

Both wattage and color are important. At the most basic level you want 2-5 watts per gallon. So if it is a 25 gallon tank you would want at least 50 watts at least, closer to 100W would be better.

The color is also important. The zooxanthellae inside the coral use the same color light as live plants, 6500K. This is the lighting many aquaculture facilities will use over their grow tanks. The problem with this is that there is no UV so they do not produce the neon colored pigments to protect themselves, so they are all brown. An aquaculture facility will move them under a lot of actinic lighting to 'finish' them before selling them. Actinics are the blue lights that can give a blacklight effect. A hobbyist's tank will usually have both white and blue bulbs. The blue are actinic. The whites are usually 10,000K or up to about 14,000K. These are a bluer white than natural sunlight, but still provide the colors that all the tank's inhabitants need. The corals will grow well but still be colorful, blues will be blue, reds will be red, etc.

I would not feed zoanthids, mushrooms, etc. They get their food from the water colummn as long as you have fish that you are feeding. Feeding extra to them will only increase the nutrients in the water and promote algae.

 

[sorgan]

over my photosynthetic tank, its a little smaller then yours, i have 2 aquarays (1 blue and 1 white) and 2 11w arcpods.

i keep non photosynthetic corals in my other tank so it isnt worth looking at for your needs but if you want to see some color have a look at a few of my gorgonians, all non photosynthetic

and i think all corals should be fed at some point they all naturally take food in the wild so we should provide them with it in tank, correct skimming and filteration will sort out any mess.

 

[fishguy2727]

I haven't found amino acid supplements and other trace supplements to be worth anything. Amino acids are in protein, so if they get protein they get everything they need.

IME a beginner will feed their fish more than enough to provide for the corals. Recommending more food is a good road to algae problems. Depending on what you are feeding the fish the corals can eat the same thing. Some mushrooms will grab, close up on, and eat certain foods, I haven't seen zoanthids do this. My mushrooms at the flakes when I was feeding them, and the pellets when I switched to pellets (so did all my LPS).

 

[sorgan]

amino acids are a god sent, they trigger feed response in most corals (including SPS) and i would have a hard time feeding most of my azoox's without them.
i see my zoa's feed every time i feed my system, they latch and close around any particulate food that is around.
i (as you may well be aware) keep corals that require constant feeding and i have not had an algae problem in any of my azoox tanks lit or not, i personally feel that most peoples corals that fail do so because they do not get enough nourishment.

but different strokes for different folks.

but anyway back to answers.
in the bottom, darker part of your tank things such as chilli corals and feather dusters (maybe even Ceranthus membranaceus later) will be quite happy and will mop up most particulate foods that are hanging around.
sun corals (if your in the states dendrophyllia is also available) will require more meaty foods but in a dark spot they look amazing. basic photosynthetic gorgs such as muricea spp (make sure it is photosynthetic as there are many NPS muricea) or Eunicea Succinea will live in the middle areas pretty well if there is food for them.

more light will always be better but its not something that is essential anymore, if you want to see a few pictures of tanks that have no lighting then PM me for a link, beware though as these are tanks that belong to experts in the azoox coral keeping circle and are not easy tanks to keep

 

[fishguy2727]

I think a lot of what you are describing should be reserved for advanced hobbyists, not the beginner. I would not suggest most nonphotosynthetics to people new to the hobby. There are a lot of hardy, colorful corals that would be great for the beginner and do not require extra care.

I prefer to keep it simple, in filtration, care, etc. If you want to try some stuff that can be hit or miss (like amino acids) try a bottle and use it as directed. When you run out stop using it. If you see an improvement by using it, keep using it. If you see any negative effects when you stop, keep using it. If you see no difference or see a negative effect by using it don't keep wasting your money.

 

[sorgan]

lol a chilli coral will live anywhere in anything, you have to try pretty hard to kill them and they are like living filter pads, which BTW is why i am such an advocate for them.