Light intensity/species of coral

[J Heff]

Hello. I'm getting ready to take the plunge into saltwater, specifically a reef. I'm going to use a 65watt power compact (50/50) on top of a standard 29 gallon tank. My question is this: Given the intensity of the light coming out of my fixture, what corals would thrive under those conditions besides mushroom anemones and zoanthids?
I would really like to know about any low-er light stony corals. I heard that maybe pagodas and montiporas might work. I still want to include the shrooms and the zoas, with perhaps some green star polyps also. If anyone has any suggestions or advice I would be most grateful.


Thanks! ---j

Oh yeah almost forgot....I want to grow some macroalgae in the display as well. I wanna see some green in there too (I'm a freshwater planted tank kinda guy xD lol). Do u think I have enough light to make that happen?

[reefsforme]

The answer is simple, none. The lighting is around 1 watt per gallon. That's not light intensity, but rather a light defecit. To keep corals, just keep, not really grow, you need 3 watts per gallon. In a general rule, you should have around 4-6 watts per gallon, for growth of croals. You can't have to much light, as that would bleach the coral. For your system, you would need around no less than 116 watt light for low to medium lighting corals, to about 174 watt light for medium to high lighting coral. If you are going to keep high lighting coral, such as SPS, than you whould get more watts. Just because you have 174 watts doesn't mean you can't have low lighting coral like mushroom, it just means that they need to be placed that is best suited for the lighting conditions. Now, instead of asking us what coral you should get. I suggest you upgrade your lighting, and get a coral encyclopedia such as Aquarium Corals : Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History by Eric H. Borneman, so you can see what species of marine livestock is available in most stores, along with the care needed. Remember, the key word for reefing is patience.

[john_blaze]

Originally Posted by reefsforme

The answer is simple, none. The lighting is around 1 watt per gallon. That's not light intensity, but rather a light defecit. To keep corals, just keep, not really grow, you need 3 watts per gallon. In a general rule, you should have around 4-6 watts per gallon, for growth of croals. You can't have to much light, as that would bleach the coral. For your system, you would need around no less than 116 watt light for low to medium lighting corals, to about 174 watt light for medium to high lighting coral. If you are going to keep high lighting coral, such as SPS, than you whould get more watts. Just because you have 174 watts doesn't mean you can't have low lighting coral like mushroom, it just means that they need to be placed that is best suited for the lighting conditions. Now, instead of asking us what coral you should get. I suggest you upgrade your lighting, and get a coral encyclopedia such as Aquarium Corals : Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History by Eric H. Borneman, so you can see what species of marine livestock is available in most stores, along with the care needed. Remember, the key word for reefing is patience.

With such a harsh tone and to imply that's the only thing to consider is to do injustice to the OP. Watts/gallon rule is an approximate rule of THUMB and no longer the "golden" rule (with recent technological advances). A good LED can go heads up with MH with half the watts (I am not trying to start a debate on which is better, I am simply pointing it out for the watts argument). Here is a recent article comparing LED's to the mainstay lighting (MH and T5) by reefings premiere expert, Dr. Joshi:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature2

It is now understood that PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) and PUR (photosynthetically usable radiation) are far more important than watts alone. Here is a good article that will give you an idea of light, what its components are, how it affects corals, and the different light setups there are to choose from:

http://www.americanaquariumproducts...._Lighting.html


HTH

[reefsforme]

Originally Posted by john_blaze

With such a harsh tone and to imply that's the only thing to consider is to do injustice to the OP. Watts/gallon rule is an approximate rule of THUMB and no longer the "golden" rule (with recent technological advances). A good LED can go heads up with MH with half the watts (I am not trying to start a debate on which is better, I am simply pointing it out for the watts argument). Here is a recent article comparing LED's to the mainstay lighting (MH and T5) by reefings premiere expert, Dr. Joshi:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature2

It is now understood that PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) and PUR (photosynthetically usable radiation) are far more important than watts alone. Here is a good article that will give you an idea of light, what its components are, how it affects corals, and the different light setups there are to choose from:

http://www.americanaquariumproducts...._Lighting.html


HTH

That's good to know, but I am old style in lighting fixtures. I don't prefer LED's, and it also depends on the depth of the tank, which I didn't take into account. Metal Halides wont do it alone, I prefer an array of various hues of lighting, which not only bring out the color of the corals, but also aid in their growth.

[J Heff]

Well thank u guys very much. I definitly got a laugh out of that exchange....such passion from reefsforme....that's what keeps me coming back haha. Lol
But I'll definitly check out those links about PAR and PUR.

[J Heff]

Oh yeah....reefsforme....there was an error in ur calculation. It doesn't come out to 1 watt per gallon. 65 watts/29 gallons = 2.24 watts per gallon. Just saying.