Low Light Corals / Polyps

[aquafreak]

Hi All

I'd like to introduce some corals and polyps. My aquarium is somewhat deeper than usual but it has good waterflow. How much light and what type would you suggest that I use? 300 watts +? MH or VHO? ...would like to get the ball rolling.

Thanks!

 

[vertex]

How deep is you're tank? how many gallons? I think there are some corals (like mushrooms, or even low light zoos maybe) that you could grow with only 2-3 watts per gallon for an average height tank. If you want more choices for corals you want to bring that up to 5-6 watts per gallon and if you want the hardest stuff (like clams and SPS) then you could need as much as 10 wpg. VHO vs PC vs MH is more about the look you want or intensity you need than to say what is better, you can either choose your lgihting and get the proper corals for that or vise versa, decide what you want then get the best lighting for them in your tank...

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

Don't be fooled by watts per gallon. It is a good place to start but there are a lot of other factors you can look at. I have a 150 watt metal halide on one half of my four foot tank so the watts per gallon on that one side is only about three but the depth of that tank is not very deep. I have a clam,zoos,frogspawn,finger leather and all my high light corals on that side and they do very well. I think the distance from your light to your livestock is more important than wpg.JMO

 

[fishfreek]

Indeed we will need more info on the depth of the tank and the size of the tank before we can help.