I have a 45 gallon tank that has been setup for about 14 weeks. It is an eclipse system with the filter built in the hood, it also has only standard fluorescent lighting. It is a fish only setup now but I would like to add some coral or plants for decoration. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!
Low Light Corals or Plants
- Thread starter SharkMan
- Start date
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DragonForce
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I would go to your LFS and see what kind of retrofit kits they have and go from there. Aim for 3 wpg or so for low light soft corals.
TheRealFF
Aquarium Advice Freak
Shrooms + Bubble corals are the two low light corals i can think off
TheRealFF
Aquarium Advice Freak
What's the wattage of ur lightning system? If i remember correctly, shrooms almost don't need light at all. They come from the deep where there's just little sunlight down there.
seaham358
Aquarium Advice Addict
IMO no..
Brenden
Aquarium Advice Addict
OK FF I am going to go get afilter. SharkMan: You can not keep those corals under NO lights. Bubble corals are not low light. Mushrooms are not either. Most mushrooms require moderate light. A sun polyp is the only thing I would recommend with your lights. There are other low light corals but they are hard to keep alive without constant care. ( sun polyp needs to be target fed once/twice a week) so they are not completely "care free"
TheRealFF
Aquarium Advice Freak
What? What does afilter have to do with this? I said what i know and just trying to help. In one book, it said "A well lid tank like this is ideal for growth of murshroom anemones" then it shows a picture of a dark tank with barely little light. I wish i still have that book so i could scan that page to show you. Also, i found this link about murshrooms:Brenden said:
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/blue-mushrooms---actinodiscus-species-corals--mushrooms---polyps.html
My dad's friend also have a 5G nano with a tiny light on the top. It has many dif. types of shrooms growing in there.
About bubbles, i've read somewhere that it's one of the few stonies that require lower light.
Well, say, if mayb i said something wrong, u could just tell me that im wrong. U don't have to be like "ima tell on u"
Im just looking around in forum and try to give out as much help as i can...Brenden
Aquarium Advice Addict
FF: No one is telling on you. The link you provided does say low light but you can also find web sites that tell you to put a regal in a 20 gallon tank. Right beside the "low light" it is says.
Which means it needs light and photosynthesis to make food so it can survive. I have seen the 5 gal nano's you are referring to. Ever thought that the light only has 6" of water to penetrate? If you have seen one that has been up for a while the mushrooms will still stretch themselves out until they look like a funnel trying to get as much light as it can. Bottom line do you want the corals to barely "survive" or "thrive" Mushrooms do have lower light requirements than most other corals but NO lights on a 45 gallon is pushing it.
You guys are killing me...take a day off and come back to this. J/K
Brenden is right on as these are not low light corals. Conventional wisdom is that low-med light corals still require 2-3+ wpg of good light.
As for different information on the web and in print you always need to check more than one source and what is the motivator of the source (i.e. are they trying to sell you something) and then go with the majority opinion.
For all you know I am some wack job that just likes to give advice willy nilly and have no idea what I am talking about. A few years ago you would have been right on when it comes to SW. Then again I would not be offering advice on something I a just learning about myself (hmm hmm, Real FF)
SharkMan, what kind of 45g do you have? If it is the traditional All glass tall you are going to stuggle with some corals due to the depth of that style tank. Not to say it cannot be done, but even if you do get 3+ WPG (ideally 4-6wpg) of lighting realize it will be diminished by the time it gets to the bottom and position corals appropriately.
Eclipse are nice, but not the ideal style lighting/filtration for a SW setup let alone reef. Do you currently have any additional filtration?
What do you ultimately want to do?
TheRealFF
Aquarium Advice Freak
Got ownt hehe. Alright i was wrong yet... again. O well sorry for the bad adviceMayb i should start some sort of alliance, mayb a clan with someone to side with me
JK
o yea, as for giving out advices, im looking at this forum about 2-3 hours a day now day so... if i see strange questions that i can give an answer to... i tend to give advices anyway. Hey most of them are right!
If im wrong, feel free to correct me but in good ways :? Don't mess with me or u mess with the reefnuts' clan!
Brenden
Aquarium Advice Addict
RealFF that is what we are all here for. As long as the correct info gets out no harm done. At least you are trying.
Good idea. I hereby anoint thee "SIR SLINKY"
Good idea. I hereby anoint thee "SIR SLINKY"
I have a long 45 gallon. I think it is 42"Lx18"Hx12D. No other filtration just the two bio wheels and a power head to move some water around. I just got my water tested today and my water quality was perfect. I do 25% water changes every two weeks and change the charcoal pad at the same time. I originally bought the tank as a fish only setup and have been getting more and more into reef tanks. I will someday be getting a larger tank for a reef setup. I am not afraid of more work. is the sun polyp an option? Thanks, didn't mean to stir you guys up at all.
Can you better describe your tank to include: inhabitants, LR, type of lighting(you may want to update the My Info section so it is on file). The tank you describe has potential based on dimensions. Will need to look at different filtration and adding a skimmer which may or may not be possible if you keep the eclipse hood. The eclipse system can work well for a lightly stocked FOWLR system.
Not sure on the sun polyps as I have never kept them.
Not sure on the sun polyps as I have never kept them.
As Brenden said NO lights are not going to cut it with corals. Also most very low light corals can be moderate to difficult to keep due to having to be fed since they do not use light.
If you upgraded to 260W pc like the 48" CORALIFE PC 2-65W ACTINIC / 2-65W 10,000K or the Current USA 48" 260W lights for example you would have enough for low to moderate light corals.
Also I would wait until your tank is 6+ months and stable before adding corals IMO.
If you upgraded to 260W pc like the 48" CORALIFE PC 2-65W ACTINIC / 2-65W 10,000K or the Current USA 48" 260W lights for example you would have enough for low to moderate light corals.
Also I would wait until your tank is 6+ months and stable before adding corals IMO.
