Tacos377
Aquarium Advice Activist
I have a FOWLR tank that has been up and running for 2 months now and would like to get some beginner corals. Any suggestions for lighting and additives for the corals are very much appreciated! Thanks.
Reef upgrade!
- Thread starter Tacos377
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Jacobdlaw610
Aquarium Advice Freak
I ran fowlr for about two months before I dove into some corals and I have 2 t5 And 2 actinics. I have 3 montipora and starpolyps an rbta and zoos. Have had the majority of them for almost a year and they are doing amazing. I would recommend a good salt mix and then check your stats and see what they are at. I never used additives just good upkeep. And best advise I can give is research the specific coral you want don't impulse buy.
bavass
Aquarium Advice Addict
what size tank is it? If you are going new lights I would suggest either the ATI Fixture for T5's or I would look into AI Vegas or SOL's or the EcoTechs if you are thinking LEDs. Can you give us a run down on what equipment you have, and what type of corals you want?
OP
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Tacos377
Aquarium Advice Activist
Ok it's a 56 gallon tank that is 30 W 18 inches deep and 24 inches tall. It has 1 clownfish and 1 six line wrasse along with a cleaner shrimp and a few hermits and snails. I have everything except a skimmer, lights, and additives that I would need to add corals. By the way, I don't want to do a sump.
Jacobdlaw610
Aquarium Advice Freak
I didn't have a sump when I first did corals
bavass
Aquarium Advice Addict
you will need a skimmer and with a skimmer the insump skimmers are better. Sorry to see you don't want to do a sump makes dosing Alk, calcium, mag etc a lot easier. Some things you don't want to just pour into a tank that can damage coral. Plus it takes the heater, skimmer etc out of DT and gives more room and looks better and y0u can add an ATO system which helps a great deal in stability of the tank. Which is very important with corals.You will need better lighting for sure. Only additives you should need are ALk, Calcium, and Mag. How are you on power heads or general flow of the tank.
Jacobdlaw610
Aquarium Advice Freak
Read some of mr x stuff he has tank full of corals and says he doesn't dose I also never dose your fine with hob skimmer it's about what you want and your budget
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Tacos377
Aquarium Advice Activist
I have one power head that does its job for now. Im getting another before getting the corals. For lights I'm thinking either 2 led units of 1 4 bulb t5ho unit. I want beginner softies, sps, and mushroom coral eventually. What is a good hob skimmer? What are good brands for additives?
Jacobdlaw610
Aquarium Advice Freak
If your going to add some additives reef code a and b would be good just get good test kits for calcium and alk other important ones you prob have. I ran a coralife hob and it worked well. Then when I added a sump it can also go in the sump
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Tacos377
Aquarium Advice Activist
Ok great! Last variable is lighting. Any suggestions there? Also anyone have fast growing beginner coral suggestions? Thank you so much.
bavass
Aquarium Advice Addict
good place for additives is BulkReefSupply.com
as far as lighting. you really need to figure out where you want this tank to have softies, SPS, etc..... If you eventually want to go SPS then you need to buy the best light now. If you buy a light that will only work on softies and you spend $400 and then decide you want to keep SPS and you will. You will need to upgrade the fixture and spend say $700-$1500 So its best to go ahead and spend the money and get the right light first. Its up to you wether to get LED's, Metal Halid or HO T5's. When it comes to skimmers, and lighting you get what you pay for they are the most expensive and most important pieces of equipment. LED's look into AI Sol or Vega, EcoTechs, Metal Halide I have no exp. with, T5's look into ATI fixtures
as far as lighting. you really need to figure out where you want this tank to have softies, SPS, etc..... If you eventually want to go SPS then you need to buy the best light now. If you buy a light that will only work on softies and you spend $400 and then decide you want to keep SPS and you will. You will need to upgrade the fixture and spend say $700-$1500 So its best to go ahead and spend the money and get the right light first. Its up to you wether to get LED's, Metal Halid or HO T5's. When it comes to skimmers, and lighting you get what you pay for they are the most expensive and most important pieces of equipment. LED's look into AI Sol or Vega, EcoTechs, Metal Halide I have no exp. with, T5's look into ATI fixtures
OP
OP
Tacos377
Aquarium Advice Activist
So that's a no for taotronics? I've seen people get great results with them and for the money I could get two... Could this grow sps?
bavass
Aquarium Advice Addict
I dont know anything about those. I know that some of the off brand fixtures people have said they aren't dimmable, fans are loud, and even catch fire. I am not sure if that is one. My personal exp in this hobby is when you go cheap you usuaaly end up paying for it later
Jacobdlaw610
Aquarium Advice Freak
+1 to that lighting not what you want to cheap out on
aadair22
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I say check out some tao's.. I'm ordering mine next week. Also go look at the thread on eat bang for your buck lighting.. A lot of Tao supporters on there
San Raphael Catfish
Aquarium Advice Freak
I love my Tao 130w.
SRC
SRC
I use a xen-lux 120 w led fixture on my 39 gallon. Cheap and works great. No dimmer on this one like the taotronics though. Just have to start new corals shaded or on the bottom. I haven't had problems with it yet. The fans arent too loud and it cost about $130. Says it runs for about 10 years or so. The tao's estimate 5 years. Here it is on my tank. Its 39:31, blue:white ratio.
