Hi, What kind of corals can I keep.

[Reefer.lol]

I've had a fowlr for about a year. I wanted to know if anyone explain to me what exactly is low, medium, and high lighting. I have 260 watts of pc lighting but don't know what coral I can keep because I don't know the definition of low, medium, or high lighting. Also, if anyone could give suggestions as to which corals I should be able to keep, that would be great to. I still need to understand for my self why I can keep what corals I can keep.

I have a refugium, more powerheads, new lightbulbs on the way(2 65watt 10000k and 2 65 watt actinic03 420nm), and I'm anxious to get some coral other than the favia that I currently have.

[stingythingy45]

[welcome]

What size tank are we talking about?
There's lots of corals that will do ok under 260 watts of PC lighting.
IMO,anything that says"high lighting" means halides to me.

[Reefer.lol]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm sorry I forgot to mention I have a 60 gallon tank.

[travis32]

I have a 55g with PC lighting also and usually I look for low to moderate lighting requirements. I stay 100% away from stony (SPS) corals. To me SPS will thrive only under T5 and most likely under MH lighting. I could be wrong, but, I haven't been interested in SPS.

LPS, and Soft corals have a lot of different species that will do just fine under your lighting. Polyps, mushrooms, frogspawn, Brain corals, Acans, xenia, leathers, just to name a few. I have all those under my lighting and so far, doing great and showing signs of growth weekly if not daily for some.

Other than avoiding SPS corals, looking at the dietary requirements is also important. Some corals are non photosynthetic, or some are, but require meaty supplements, or microplankton, etc. For example, sun corals don't need any light, however, you have to target feed them shrimp and other foods.. So, be careful of things that require no or low lighting to find out what else they feed on.

[Chiefsurfer]

so for your 60, you have 260 watts of power, and will be adding another 130? to total about 400 watts? If that is the case, you can keep pretty much anything except sps and clams. Some of the lower-light SPS might even be ok. That said, you can't put an acro on the sand.

Lighting is all about PAR(actually its PUR, but its tough for us to measure PUR). Power Compact bulbs are generally low-PAR bulbs. What that means is that for every Watt of power, they put out a very small amount of photosynthetically available light. Meaning only maybe 15% of all light output is the RIGHT light for corals to use in photosynthesis. The % is just a complete guess.

This can be overcome by adding a TON of power(watts of light output), or by getting bulbs that put out a VERY HIGH percentage of usable light. Let's say that pc's put out 15% of their watts in usable light. Then t5's put out maybe 50% of their watts in usable light, and MH put out maybe 65% of their watts in usable lights. That means 1-100Wpc=1-39Wt5=1-25W MH. Not saying all lights are available in those power-ratings, just purely a comparison thing. Also, not saying those figures are 100% correct, and DO depend on the ballasts, fixtures, reflectors, but it is a nice way to show you how lighting impacts what you can/can't keep.

So, on a 60, where I would reccomend either 2-250w MH or 4/6 54w t5's, 400total watts of PC, should be able to sustain a fair range of corals.

[Reefer.lol]

Thanks for all of the help so far. I'm starting to understand a little more.

For clarification I will have 260 watts total, not 400. The new bulbs are to replace the old ones.

Thanks again.

[Chiefsurfer]

oh ok. Then I would say stick to low-light lps, and softees like mushrooms and zoanthids.

[Reefer.lol]

I find the info about the t5 a little upsetting seeing as how I could have gotten a 216 watt t5 lighting setup for ten buck cheaper. Oh well, I'm not gonna buy them now that I already paid for these pc's and cannot return them. I still got a slammin deal.

[Fizz71]

Lighting is greatly affected by tank depth and the placement of the coral in the water colum (how close to the surface and position under the bulbs) as well as the type of bulbs.

Speaking generically...me personally...I'd consider PC lighting to be "Low" (almost medium), T5s and VHO to be "Medium" and Metal Halides and the newer LCDs to be "High". But again...you can run all T5s in a shallow tank with SPS corals that require "High" light and be perfectly fine. It's all about the itensity...spectrum is important too, but IMO "low" "medium" and "high" is about the intensity and PAR a light puts out at different depths.

With PCs you might be able to run shrooms, zoas and LPSs including acans but they will need to be high up, where as in my MH system I keep them low in the water.

Lighting is a constant debate on here so you will likely get a variety of answers. Your best bet is to do some research and read some articles from the pros like Sanjay Joshi. As far as my experience is concerned...I've never run PC, but did half decent with VHO until I finally made the jump to Halides and let me just tell you....there is a difference between "keeping" corals and the vibrant colors and growth you get moving up the ladder to "higher" lighting.

http://glassbox-design.com/2009/3-websites-you-should-know-for-reef-aquarium-lighting/

Good luck and welcome to RC.

[Fizz71]

so for your 60, you have 260 watts of power, and will be adding another 130? to total about 400 watts? If that is the case, you can keep pretty much anything except sps and clams. Some of the lower-light SPS might even be ok. That said, you can't put an acro on the sand.

Lighting is all about PAR(actually its PUR, but its tough for us to measure PUR). Power Compact bulbs are generally low-PAR bulbs. What that means is that for every Watt of power, they put out a very small amount of photosynthetically available light. Meaning only maybe 15% of all light output is the RIGHT light for corals to use in photosynthesis. The % is just a complete guess.

This can be overcome by adding a TON of power(watts of light output), or by getting bulbs that put out a VERY HIGH percentage of usable light. Let's say that pc's put out 15% of their watts in usable light. Then t5's put out maybe 50% of their watts in usable light, and MH put out maybe 65% of their watts in usable lights. That means 1-100Wpc=1-39Wt5=1-25W MH. Not saying all lights are available in those power-ratings, just purely a comparison thing. Also, not saying those figures are 100% correct, and DO depend on the ballasts, fixtures, reflectors, but it is a nice way to show you how lighting impacts what you can/can't keep.

So, on a 60, where I would reccomend either 2-250w MH or 4/6 54w t5's, 400total watts of PC, should be able to sustain a fair range of corals.

..I need to type faster. :)

[Reefer.lol]

Mushrooms and zooanthids...thats cool...Would I be able to keep any of these corals as well?

http://www.petsolutions.com/Brain-Coral+I155800L+C16175.aspx

http://www.petsolutions.com/Green-Star-Polyp+I167600L+C76.aspx

http://www.petsolutions.com/Flower-Leather-Soft-Coral+I153300L+C16165.aspx
http://www.petsolutions.com/Bubble-Coral+I156400L+C16175.aspx

[Reefer.lol]

Thanx FIzz. That's good to know. So I f I did get a medium or high light requirement coral, It would have to go at the top maybe 10 inches deep in the water if it were to try to survive?

[travis32]

Although I agree with the general points brought up so far.. I have to disagree on Acans would have to be high up in the tank with PC lighting.

I purchased a tiny nano (or smaller than nano) frag this past weekend. I originally had it a couple inches off the bottom on a small rock, but read they develop their own skeleton better if on the sand bed. So I moved it to the sand bed.

I would say in the last 3 days I've had it, the main head on it has trippled in size. Everyday I notice it getting bigger and bigger. There's 2 other smaller heads that are growing and developing as well.. I do have a 55g though. So, not sure if that makes a difference, but, I just wanted to point out under PC lighting, my Acan is doing awesome. Would it grow faster on MH? I don't know, maybe, but, it's growing fast enough for me to not justify the electricity, bulb maintenance, and lighting fixture cost of MH lights.

[Reefer.lol]

Curious...How much watts of light do you have travis

[Fizz71]

Would it grow faster on MH? I don't know, maybe, but, it's growing fast enough for me to not justify the electricity, bulb maintenance, and lighting fixture cost of MH lights.

Probably not...and I'll admit I have very limited experience with ACANs because their popularity is relatively new. I have 2 colonies in my tank and one is right off the sand and the other is mid-level, but sheltered. I know they are low light corals, but if your getting good growth with PC and acans in the sand then I'm glad to here it and will remember that for the future. :)

As for the OP's question on the 4 corals:
Brains Coral - Typically low in the colum so you may be OK even low.
GSP - They may not grow too fast, but you should be fine although I've found GSPs to be like xenia...for some systems they explode with growth, and others they do nothing (regardless of light levels).
Leather - Fine.
Bubble - Probably fine as well as they don't require much light either.

[Reefer.lol]

Thanks again Fizz. Looks like I'll be able to have some type of variety after all.

[Chiefsurfer]

Agree, you should be ok with any of the corals you specifically asked about.

Acan's can do OK in fairly low light. Also Travis, don't be surprised if you see them "puff" up quite a bit from the state you bought them in. Within 2-3 days of my purchase, they were easily double the size that I bought them at. This is not really growth, but rather them "puffing" up as they will do from time-to-time. You have to look at the number of heads really. I have had my first acan for 3 months, started at 4 heads, and is now roughly 12 heads. I had on the sand-bed for 2 months, under 4-24W t5 lighting, since it started to outgrow the frag-tile, I mounted it to the rock. I think being on sand will help it grow the skeleton, but if heads start to touch the sand I think they can get irritated.

reefer, I would say that with low light corals they can go as low as the sand-bed in your tank. With medium-light corals you can go to about 12" or so from the water-surface, and you cannot do any high-light corals.

[travis32]

Thanks for the info Chief, mine has 3 heads so far, I'll monitor for new heads. ;)
Reefer, I've heard a lot of bad comments for corallife having a bad reputation for faulty products. I guess I"ll find out.. ;) that may drive my light upgrade in the future - if the light goes out / quits working.

It's a coralife 4 bulb 65w each bulb. 2 actinics, 2 daylight bulbs. Don't remember which is which, but 2 of them are rated at 10k. I just bought new bulbs a couple weeks ago since I didn't know how old the bulbs were that were in it, and didn't want to take any chances. I spent $100 for 4 new bulbs total including shipping.

I agree though, read up on the corals you WANT To have. Or would like to have. Then, decide what lighting is best for those. If you want to have stony corals you'll need better than PC. for soft and LPS. Low to moderate lighting should be accomodateable by location in your tank. e.g. for moderates generally place closer to the top of the tank as Chief and others have said. If it were me, I would avoid High light requirements altogether. although ones that say "Moderate to high", if it was something I really wanted, I might find a way to get it as close to the surface as possible.

Ultimately What YOU want in the tank is what should drive your light requirements. I think we can all agree that if we had a few hundred laying around to spend on our tanks, we would all get Metal Halides.

I will say I was an idiot... The person I got my rock from practically wanted to give his MH to me. it was a 48" fixture, said I could have it for $100. I didn't take it because I knew I"d have to spend another $150 to 200 in bulbs.

Oh well, live and learn.

[Frick-n-Frags]

i bet a lot of the lower light sps would do fine up high. birdsnests can grow in dim light, Montiopora digitata grows anywhere. green or brown Pocillapora damicornis grows everywhere. Pavona at aquatic technology grows like a weed in 40 gal breeders with 2 old vho's over them.

Actualy, a trip to aquatic technology would quiet a bunch of people. he has a ton of sps in the dim bottom rows. but NOT Acros and the hi-flow montis and that sort of bright light stuff.

If you can get frags from local reefers, especially " i need to trim. take it or it goes in the flowerbed" stuff, give everything a shot.

good water quality is far more important than some rule of thumb light amount.

rick, the old owner of(shoot i forgotthe name of his online reef store) had a 90 with 4 VHO's. he had the "to die for" acros in there. shawnz28 (salty critter guy) had a 75 4 bulb vho setup also packed with everything.

so dont get too discouraged by all these people who haven't been there and haven't done that. but do try expendable guinea pig frags vs buying $70 ORA acros to test the water so to speak

[Reefer.lol]

Thanks for all of you guys help. Now I can make good decisions on which corals to buy. Not, "that will look nice in my tank. Ill get it" kinda thing. I can't wait for my refugium to come in the mail. Then all I have to do is get some sand and chaeto.

[Reefer.lol]

Hey guys. I have a new question. Someone told me that with my pc lighting I won't be able to keep a bubble tip anemone. Is that True?

[Texxxx]

Probably not be able to keep any type of anemone. They need moderate to high light.

[MyReef 2b Great]

Bummer! I really want an anemone for my black clown.

[TwistedEnvy]

Yeah, PCs are very low level lights, please don't try SPS. Do you have a skimmer/sump? SPS are very finicky about parameters as well, which will make them harder for someone who does not check them often. However, should you end up upgrading your light (I know you just bought this one) I have T-5s on my 155 (6 80w t5s driven by IceCap 660 ballasts) and I have 4 clams, a bunch of SPS, and even more LPS. You can see my tank thread in the LPS corals section under Twistedenvy's tank.

Since I am an LPS kind of person, I can tell you that most LPS will be fine in your tank. Things like Lobo's, though, require higher light IME than the average LPS coral. You could definitely do a chalice tank though. Chalices require low to medium light abd have a very wide and awesome spectrum of colors. Mushrooms are good, but be ware that they have a very powerful sting and can kill almost anything they touch. Same thing with green start polyps, or GSP. Try going in to the LPS coral forum and looking around to see what you find.

[MyReef 2b Great]

what about 216 watt t5's? Can I keep an anemone then?

[MyReef 2b Great]

what about 216 watt t5's? Can I keep an anemone then?

anyone???

[rxonco]

With my former tank, I had a 72 gallon bowfront with 4x65 watt PC lighting. In this tank I kept the following with great growth:
LPS (bubble, frogspawn, hammer, candy cane)
softies (leathers, tons of zoa varieties, ricordia)
SPS (montipora, pocillipora) (many will say T5 or MH only)
Green carpet anenome (many will say T5 or MH only)

I'm sure I'm missing something, but this is what I can come up with off the top of my head.

You'll be surpised with what you can keep with PC lights. Just stay away from Acros and clams and you can be ok.

[jpkboca]

t5's can be about the same as pc's or WAY better. You want them to have individual reflectors, i they have individual reflectors you can easily keep an anenome.

[MyReef 2b Great]

Wow rxonco! Thats great news. So far most have been telling me it's impossible. It's great to hear that it's possible from someone who has done it themselves. Plus you had a larger tank than I.

About how high up in your tank was your anemone? And how long did you have him?

[MyReef 2b Great]

i they have individual reflectors you can easily keep an anenome.

Thanx Ill keep that in mind if I do upgrade my lighting.

[rxonco]

The carpet was on the sand bottom. Here's a link to the tank from a couple of years ago, it gives a description and some pictures of what I had in the tank at the time.

http://www.marshreef.com/TOTM/2007/Feb07/Feb07TOTM.htm