Live rocks and lighting

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aznbob

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
May 28, 2005
Messages
96
Location
New Orleans
Hi,

I don't plan on having corals or anemones in my new tank for another 6 months, but I do have live rocks. My question is do live rocks need light to start coralline growth? (I'm cheap I don't want to turn on the light and waste money if I don't have to.)

I'm using Instant Ocean salt. Do I need any additives to keep live rocks and corals? I know I need ca/alk to be balanced, but are there anything else that I need?

Thanks
 
You need light, but nothing fancy or intense. Normal fluorescents should be plenty, but they need to be on.
Also, you'll need to test and dose calcium and alkalinity. Calcium is what coraline needs to grow, but alkalinty has to be balanced to calcium.
 
pearsont74 said:
what size tank?
have u cycled?

I have a 29 gal tank that I plan on starting up this weekend.


So all I need now is some calcium. Does the salt mix have the rest of the stuff needed for corals?
 
What is "base LR" I have LR and base rock under it, but the base rock is not live until it migrates from the LR.
 
base rock = dead rock
base rock + time = live rock
therefore
base rock = cheap alternative to live rock if you have patience.

If you plan to dose calcium, you need to test for it first. If you plan to raise calcium to 400ppm, you'll need to test alkalinity, and make sure it's 3.0meq/l or roughly 10dKh so it's balanced to calcium levels.
 
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