Lighting for a FOWLR tank

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Gene0514

Candiru
MFK Member
Feb 3, 2008
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Staten Island, NY
I want to make my 55 into a FO tank with some live rock. I will use a canister filter with bio-balls for filtration.I will have 40 lb of live sand. I have a Coralife Aqualight T5 fixture on the tank. It has a 6700k bulb and a colormax bulb. Would it be ok to use them? Will they cause algae?

Thank you
 
The lights are fine. Live rock doesn't need any fancy lighting, well really lighting at all for that matter, coral however does. As far as algae, I find it has more to do with the water than the lighting in saltwater, particularlly if your nitrates are high. This, is going to be a problem for you if you run a canister filter with bioballs, as the nitrates will go high as a result. The first problem is the canister, being that it is self enclosed, the oxygen level is low, a condition that helps nitrates increase, which is why sumps are a better option. A second problem is the bioballs themselves. Unless there is frequent cleaning, detrius quickly accumulates on them, and then it breaks down, and causes the nitrates to go even higher. Then if you add good lighting, it becomes even more of a problem, as it helps the algae grow, so yes lighting is a factor, but it is more of a factor if your water quality is bad.
Also, to keep algae down, RO water or distilled are better choices than tap, as they have less trace elements and less tds (total dissolved solids).
 
Thanks

I'm am gonna keep mechanical before the bioballs to keep them from being clogged. The mechanical will be cleaned once a week. I use DI water for my saltwater tanks (DI also removes all of those unneeded things like nitrates, phosphates, trace elements, etc)
 
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