confused on lighting for live rock

[natman2]

I would like to slowly start introducing some live rock but not sure if my lighting is sufficient. I have two 24 inch fluorescents for my 75 gallon tank. Most likely NO 15 watts.

I went to check on some rock today but my dealer said my lighting was insufficient and my rock would eventually die off and wanted to show me some very expensive lighting systems until I told him I wouldn't be buying any lights for awhile.

They have tank ready cured live rock which seems a bit pricey to me 8 bucks a pound.

Bottom line is I need to know what the minimum lighting requirements are for live rock.

 

[fishfreek]

The rock wont die but any algae growing on the rock would probably suffer greatly at that low light level. The only way to kill live rock is to leave it out of the water for prolonged periods of time so all the micro orginisiums on and in the rock die.

There is no minimum requirements to keep live rock alive but if you want the coraline algae and maybe the other forms of macro algae that might be on the rock alive I would shoot for a minimum of 2-3Watts per gal.

 

[yswong]

""The rock wont die but any algae growing on the rock would probably suffer greatly at that low light level. The only way to kill live rock is to leave it out of the water for prolonged periods of time so all the micro orginisiums on and in the rock die.'''

How long if you leave it out before the LR dies?

And how do you actually tell if the LR is dead?(is this a stupid question?)

Thanks

 

[SkinnyPete]

Also, don't forget to check out liverocks.com, which is where a lot of people on this board (including myself) get their rock. The rock looks incredible from lr.com and its almost half the price of the price your lfs quoted you.

 

[noteworthy]

I bought my live rock from a local shop. He normally charges 6.99 a lb but I got him to sell it to me for 3.99 a lb. Covered in purple coraline.. very pretty stuff.

 

[fishfreek]

It would have to dry out totally. You know its dead when its bone dry.

 

[natman2]

Thinking about this fixture for 75 gallon.

http://www.specialty-lights.com/960200.html

Do I need more or will this do it

 

[mykpoz]

i would suggest going to www.captivereefs.com and check out his lights...

you will get a better setup *for aquarium use* for around the same price.

Plus, he is active on this board, and is a good retailer

 

[seaham358]

You went from not getting lights to wanting a very nice light setup???
You can get away with just a 48" NO strip light with 2 40 watt no bulbs... I would get the URI super white and actinic. I run this on my 55 fowlr and have tons of coraline.

Like FF says the lighting only keeps the algae on the LR alive not the LR. So if you want to get a few pounds of LR now until you get the lights that would be fine. The LR if colored will just trun white/gray over time.
aquatraders.com has some great prices on lights.. i have a PC light from them and it has worked out well.

 

[noteworthy]

A light upgrade isn't in my figure very soon but perhaps somewhere down the road. I would like to know more about this 'upgrade' of NO lighting. I have a walmart kit 55 gallon with two NO Eclipse F15T8 bulbs. They look to be 18" each. What would be the cheapest and yet effective way to bring my lighting up to par to help coraline algae? I'm guessing they are 15w each? if I had ballasts that supported two bulbs and overdrove them would they melt/blow up? Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[natman2]

Since a high quality fixture is at least a few months away before I can afford it I went to Wally World in search of an inexpensive alternative since I have great doubt about my two 15 watt 18 inch fluorescents keeping even lr alive.

I bought CF that they are calling sunlight bulbs. 30 watt/supposedly 135 watt equivilant, 6500k each. Light and small shop fixture ran about 16 dollars each. Only thing is I have to use egg crating/light diffusers for on top of tank and had to shim up the fixtures a bit to keep the CF from making contact with the tank lid. Four of these will make for quite a bright aquarium. At least these have made me feel more comfortable placing live rock in the tank. Most of the lr at my lfs already has Coraline growing on it so it would be nice if I could keep it alive until I buy my real fixture