Lighting for 55 long

[tdob141]

I'm in the process of getting my 55 long set up... I've gone through a full cycle... and probably would already have fish if I wasn't in the process of tearing my living room down to studs to insulate and sheet rock (moved the tank into the dining room for the time being)... but i have a question about lighting. For the time being, the tank is a FOWLR and will probably stay that way at least until the "budget" allows for some upgrades. With a FOWLR, do I absolutely NEED "good" lighting? I'm referring to a basic dual T5HO set-up as "good". Any comments/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[mr_X]

you don't really need any lighting for a FOWLR. ambient light from the room will be fine for the fish to see their food. nothing in the tank is photosynthetic and bacteria doesn't need light to thrive, so any light you want is good to go.

[tdob141]

Thanks for the quick reply! Obviously when/if I head towards corals I'll be upgrading the system (sump, lighting, protein skimmer, etc). The main reason I asked is because the cross member on my tank had cracked and the way I have it secured looks like crap... the current hood/lighting covers it... and the T5HO fixture that fit into my "budget" wouldn't have covered it. I understand that the bacteria doesn't need any light (bc it doesn't photosynthesis), but wouldn't any coralline algae need lighting? If so, would ambient and a regular "aquarium" tube be sufficient?

I'm trying to take full advantage of an x-mas bonus and get everything that I need (obviously not everything that I WANT thought).

[iDream]

yep, for a FOWLR lighting is all about what you want, you can run all LEDs and MHs or no light at all, up to you

[mr_X]

yep. coralline algae does fine under the same light other algae thrives on. curly-Q energy saver bulbs will grow coralline!

[uscamaro]

I have coraline growing on my rocks and I'm using the standard incandescent bulbs that came with hoods for my 55gallon. She's been up and running for 2 weeks.