Lighting and live rock

[sicklidkid]

Hi, i am converting to a [acronym:9e3c6c3a65="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:9e3c6c3a65] [acronym:9e3c6c3a65="Fish only with live rock"]FOWLR[/acronym:9e3c6c3a65] tank soon. I have been researching alot and am finally wondering about the type of lighting i will need. I want live rock and i want it to "grow" and not just die off. What type of lighting do i need? Currently i have a shop light in my [acronym:9e3c6c3a65="Freshwater"]FW[/acronym:9e3c6c3a65] (soon to be saltwater) tank, it has 2 40 watt residential lights in it. What else do i need? Also how much [acronym:9e3c6c3a65="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:9e3c6c3a65] should i have in a 55 gallon tank? I am not planning on having it as my whole filtration. I have a fluval 404 also. Finally are these rocks good? Would anyone reccomend them or any others?http://www.liverocks.com/cart.html

[srgetz]

You could just use the fluval (assuming use of biomedia) and start with like 20-30lb of [acronym:6b8a935589="Live rock"]lr[/acronym:6b8a935589], then add say 30+lb base rock. The base rock will slowly turn to [acronym:6b8a935589="Live rock"]lr[/acronym:6b8a935589] over a few months, it does not need to "cycle", just rinse and put it in. I just bought some at my [acronym:6b8a935589="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:6b8a935589] for $1.19/ lb! You can get some at similar prices here: http://www.hirocks.com/Our_Products.html. This would save you $$ toward the lighting.

There are many others here better suited to answer but I'd say look at a 48" 200w [acronym:6b8a935589="Power compact fluorescent"]pc[/acronym:6b8a935589] fixture minimum.

[jvennitti]

sicklidkid,

From what I have read here, 2-3 watts/gallon is required to keep the [acronym:d2bc17e9a6="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:d2bc17e9a6] happy. When I bought mine from liverocks.com they said 4-6 watts/gallon. [acronym:d2bc17e9a6="Normal Output Fluorescents"]NO[/acronym:d2bc17e9a6] fluorescents seem to be OK if you're not after a reef tank. If I understand correctly, the 2-3 watts/gallon will support the purple coralline growth.

I'm sure you'll get some more help on this.

Good luck,

Jeff

[excited_newby]

I currently have 2 incandescent lights on my tank. They are super super bright (the are not the household fixture ones but ones from an old short aquarium lid) so will that be enough light or should I go to [acronym:008e3547b2="Home Depot"]HD[/acronym:008e3547b2] and pic up a shop light?

[SaltwaterTeen]

Heh I use ALOT of lighting in my tank I have 4-110watt [acronym:9005fa0d2d="Very high output fluorescent"]VHO[/acronym:9005fa0d2d] for about 550$ that came with a new wood hood and I origionally had 2-55watt [acronym:9005fa0d2d="Power compact fluorescent"]pc[/acronym:9005fa0d2d] that I added to my 4-110watts thats about 10watts per gallon. As far as [acronym:9005fa0d2d="Live rock"]lr[/acronym:9005fa0d2d] I get mine from [acronym:9005fa0d2d="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:9005fa0d2d] for 4.50 lb which isnt bad at all compared to the other places