Discussion - As a Reefkeeper...

[Reefscape]

...how do you determine the lighting requirements for specific corals when asked? Do you find yourself generalising? or being species specific?

Why have you chosen the corals that you have? Are there ever any environmental ideals behind your choices?

If a worldwide program was setup for coral propagation, with a view to building brand new reefs around the world, what would you donate? would you donate freely? even pay the shipping?

 

[micstarz]

I only have a 24watt bulb on my fuge. All other lighting is direct sunlight from the window.

 

[sweeTang21]

i give the best advise on lighting from many perspectives. my questions for anybody looking for a new lighting system would be:

what do you want to keep?
how tall is the tank?
are you worried about heat?
are you worried about cost, initially and monthly?
do you have a certain preference for the shimmer effect or not?

these are all questions that will help determine the best choice to reccomend.

i usually suggest the T5s, because with the exception of the shimmer, they can provide what halides will to most light loving corals. There are some exceptions of course in some SPS that will require extremely intense lighting to grow properly. These are the few corals that most aquarist will not keep anyways, so i dont see them as a limiting factor. T5s are efficient, and dont creat as much heat as halides and even some CF systems. also, they cost less for bulb replacement as well as every month on our friendly electric bill. a lot of good reasons in my eyes to forget about halides and go with T5s.

 

[FLESHY]

do you have a certain preference for the shimmer effect or not?

YES YES YES

So sweet... that was one of my favorite things about them when I made the upgrade three years ago.

I only have a 24watt bulb on my fuge. All other lighting is direct sunlight from the window.

Id like to see what you have in this tank. This would definitely not work here in wisco...

 

[BIGgourami]

i tend to generalize unless there's a notable exception..

for example...

monti is an SPS (generally a high heavy, flow heavy coral)
but monti generally does beter under (considerably) lower light and flow than say acro or stylo

such would be my response

T5's are good and cheap. if you add a strip of LEDs along the top of the tank you can stil get some of that "shimmering effect"

 

[srikamaraja]

The only hard corals I keep are Porites and Montipora. They are extremely forgiving, can thrive in a tank without a skimmer, grow roughly .1-.2cm/month, and are doing amazing under 2x 20w 10,000k NO and 2x 20w actinic NO.

Normal output for the ghetto reefs what what

 

[puffcrusader696]

If I'm telling people what kind of light to use I first askt them what they want to keep as anyone should. If they want softies or LPS I recomment t5s. I have never recommended compact fluorescent because the bulbs last half as long and arent as efficient. I have halides now and I love the shimmer. My corals colors really pop and in a 55 gallon, two 250 watt MH is enough to make any coral (that likes high light) grow fast and their colors are all great... its time to get new bulbs and I will soon but other than the heat I think they are the best.

As far as why I chose the corals that I did, I chose them simply because I like the look of them and because I feel I can take care of them. I have a mix of softies, zoos, SPS, and LPS. They all seem to be doing well and are growing... since my tank has only been up since september there really isnt a huge amount of growth anywhere but enough that it is noticable and I can tell they are doing well. As far as environmental ideals, I do not buy rock that was harvested directly from the ocean, and I try to pick only cultured corals.

If there was a program to build reefs around the world, depending on how well my tank was doing at the time and if I had any frags to give, I would give some corals. I might pay the shipping. I think it would be an excellent idea if done correctly and if done with enough care not to introduce species into completely foreign waters that would disrupt the balance of the local ecosystem. This would help to restore reefs that have been destroyed and can balance out the worlds delicate balance because life in the ocean is what keeps our planet balanced. If that goes, we go. Simple as that and that's why I think it's important to replace what we destroy and preserve whats left and that's why I would donate to a program like that.