I'm very limited because I have a corner tank. the 24" fixture takes up a lot of space, but I can probably go to 30" or so
I'll need to build a canopy to keep my cats out and hang lights so I can remove the glass top
All of this is "way too expensive" for now. The coralife (yep) is 130 watts and small enough to fit. I know I want a reef eventually, but mostly I just want to get a few fish and have them live in a place that's not so bare. Coralline and some microcritters would make it much more of an ecosystem and much less of the "glass box with bare sand and rock" taht it is now. hirocks and dry aragonite are kinda boring. I don't want "bad" algea to take hold, but if I don't have enough light for coralline, it's kinda silly to spend another $80 on 10 lb of live rock only to see it die.
thoughts?