is my light good enough for coral?

[hemmer]

the light that i have right now is a Actinic Spectrum marine-glo. its 20watts, 24" long. and my aquarium is a 45 gallon. im planning on gettting like 15 lbs more live rock and adding coral and wanted to know if i should also upgrade my light.

 

[blazeyreef]

oh yes, their is not a coral that i know of that could survive that sorry... you will want to upgrade to at least about 135 watts for shrooms (that would be 3wpg )......how deep/ tall is the tank?

 

[Florida8]

Yes, you would need to upgrade, That's less than 1 watt per gallon... I don't even know if that's enough for Shrooms.

As far as LR you need about 1-2 pounds per gallon. But you could add some quality dry base rock and mix with your 15 pounds of LR... it will be good to go in no time.

 

[hemmer]

i got like 6 lbs already but i have really pourous chunks of rock that i bought dry from petco that i think kinda works similar to base rock about 10-12 lbs of that. so if i count that i already have around 17 pounds or so. thanks for the info on the lighting i nedded to know.
what kind of light do you guys suggest i buy? right now my light housing is just for one light and id like to keep it that way but if i have to upgrade i will. but as cheap as i can but for the light bulb itself i will spend money on.

and the tank is 36 inches long by 24 inches tall by 12 1/4 depth

 

[melosu58]

You`ll need to get a new system altogether. You`ll need at least what Blazey said. Just changing a bulb in your current light will not work. What system you get will depend on what type of corals you want.

 

[blazeyreef]

well you can get something like this http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=13637&N=2004+113345
and get the 36 inch.. that is 192 watts...a little over 4 wpg for $200

 

[Devilishturtles]

http://www.hellolights.com/362xcoraqpch.html

Or this. Same thing, different company. Little less money.

 

[blazeyreef]

http://www.hellolights.com/362xcoraqpch.html

Or this. Same thing, different company. Little less money.

nice find! i wish I would have found that site! I could have gotten more light for less money

 

[hemmer]

alright, ill have to shop around although my tank alone is 36". my light in there right now is 24". should i have a light fixture that is the same length as my tank?

well i picked up 15 more lbs of live rock. it was imo the best piece they had, lots of little caves and everything and its all one big piece. it looks great. now i pretty much dont know anything about lighting. is my light right now good enough to keep the live rock looking great or do i need to immediatly get one with higher wattage and daylight and actinic bulbs? im planning on getting one within the next 3 weeks but just in case thats too long i wanted to ask.

 

[loyalrogue]

The nitrifying bacteria will continue to grow on your LR and spread to your base rock regardless of your lighting.
Coralline algae, on the otherhand, probably won't grow and spread until you increase your lighting.
I have the greastest growth and diversity of coralline in my highest watt tanks.
On a positive note, the low lighting should help retard the growth of other nuisance algaes until you upgrade.

 

[mnestroy]

You dont "need" a light that is the exact same size... if you go all out and get a Halide and hang it 8+inches above your tank it will light your entire tank.

You'd best getting a fixture that is 36" so everything is lit up equally.

 

[melosu58]

You'd best getting a fixture that is 36" so everything is lit up equally.

This is true as your MH will cover only about a 24" space adequately. Both sides will not have as much as the center.