Lighting for LR

[PiscesLou]

I have two 10k 36 watt PC and one 24w NO actinic light on a 50 gal with the height at 18in. Do I have enough lighting for LR? Right now I just have 20lbs of base rock on 60lbs LS. I am planning on getting a hood with more lights in about 4 months, but for the meantime this is what I have. Is it enough?

 

[lando]

You have enough light to support LR but you will not see much coraline growth, at least it will be slow. You will see some though. Keep CA and ALK in line to help things out. Once you get your lighting upgrade itshould be better. The good news is is that you do need strong lighting to get the great bio-filtration benifits of LR.

 

[PiscesLou]

to get the great bio-filtration benifits of LR.

yeah, Thats the main reason why I want to get some LR. Ever since I switched CC with LS about 3 month ago my nitrates have stayed low, so this is the next step for me to follow ( next is a sump)

 

[PiscesLou]

How long do I need to keep the lights on per day?

 

[MattP725]

When I had NO I kept them on for quite a bit... 8-10 hrs. Then again I had only 30w total in a 55g. Since you have almost 2x that I would say you should keep it on for 6-8hrs atleast... prob a bit more. Like he said you will be able to sustain life but will see no growth. When I switched to PCs everything became covered with coraline. Pretty crazy.

 

[PiscesLou]

Cant wait..probably a week away from purchasing LR.