Lighting

[FishFanaticSyd]

Hi... I got a second hand aquarium, skimmer and florescent lighting from a friend of my mom's. I have no guess as to how powerful the lighting is but I read that algae only grows under bright light. Well, I have had no problems with the algae and even had some beneficial red algae shipped in for my tank. It is all growing good. Especially the filmy stuff on the tank walls. My question is; is my lighting good enough for a reef tank?

 

[Mr tap water]

Hi there
In my opinion lighting only really comes into play when doing marines when you start buying corals if it's fish only The light Side of things becomes less necessary, but if you do decide to go down some of the basic corals like soft and leathers you're lighting will need to be more blue and white as you don't need to red and greens as much these colours are more for enhancing then anything else, and also having the wrong spectrum of lighting can cause big problems with unwanted algaes.


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[FishFanaticSyd]

It is definitely very blue. Actually the reason I posted this is because I wanted to start a reef but I don't know if I have enough lighting. Here's a pic I got of my tank-

 

[FishFanaticSyd]

Oh wait it didn't post. I can never get it to work right

Let's see if that worked...

 

[Mr tap water]

If you intend keeping corals with minimal lighting you might get away with soft and leather corals but if you're going to go for LPSs& SPSs which are Stoney corals you will deafly need a lot more lighting in my opinion.


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[FishFanaticSyd]

Yeah, I was only going to go for the real easy ones in the beginning. I have been doing research on the subject. I still can't figure out whether I need to add a bunch of 'coral food' to the water, etc. for shrooms... definitely some work to do there.

 

[Mr tap water]

I never feed any of my soft corals and believe you don't need to.


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[FishFanaticSyd]

Oh good. Where should I order corals? I am looking for low price (due to a egg business funded allowance) and the best quality. Low shipping rates is always good, too. I live near Richmond, VA if that is any help.

 

[Mr tap water]

Sorry can't help you on this one, but would say stick to reputable dealers or sponsors on this forum if there is any.?


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[Ricksreef]

Oh good. Where should I order corals? I am looking for low price (due to a egg business funded allowance) and the best quality. Low shipping rates is always good, too. I live near Richmond, VA if that is any help.

How close to Newport News?You would be better off going to a dedicated salt water store to get your corals and fish.The Reef Room in Newport News would be worth the short trip.


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[FishFanaticSyd]

I'm not sure if my mom would be willing to drive me. There are a couple stores a little closer to home that mom can do, like Azalea Aquariums (great place btw) and Chester Aquaria which I have never been to but looks pretty amazing online. I'll have to look around.

 

[Ricksreef]

Fish World in Richmond is one you need to check out if you haven't already.Main thing is to find one where the people actually know what they are doing and maintain their tanks and livestock etc. without problems.Best to stay away from the National chain ones where the employees usually aren't and the tanks are not maintained well.


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[FishFanaticSyd]

Thanks for the suggestion, I will see if mom or dad can combine that with an errand sometime. I will definitely look at the store.