Carwin
11/08/2011, 08:23 PM
Hi folks,
I'm in the midst of planning a change over to a reef tank. I currently have a 90 gallon FW tank. The start-up costs of going to SW are frankly tough to swallow.
I wonder if one approach might not be a gradual one to reduce the pain. So here's my question. Since the lights are one of the greatest costs in this process (even if I go DIY) and the coral need the lights, could I start my tank in Dec or Jan as a fish only SW tank with LR in there and then say add the lights in the summer (to allow for cash flow, etc) and then start corals?
Another way of asking this is to say: can I put reef friendly fish in my tank but not have corals? I have plenty of lace-rock in my current cichlid tank so the rock will be there and I will buy some LR to help accelerate that process.
Would this work? Or do the fish I would buy for a reef tank really need the corals to be there from the outset?
Thanks, Ed
I'm in the midst of planning a change over to a reef tank. I currently have a 90 gallon FW tank. The start-up costs of going to SW are frankly tough to swallow.
I wonder if one approach might not be a gradual one to reduce the pain. So here's my question. Since the lights are one of the greatest costs in this process (even if I go DIY) and the coral need the lights, could I start my tank in Dec or Jan as a fish only SW tank with LR in there and then say add the lights in the summer (to allow for cash flow, etc) and then start corals?
Another way of asking this is to say: can I put reef friendly fish in my tank but not have corals? I have plenty of lace-rock in my current cichlid tank so the rock will be there and I will buy some LR to help accelerate that process.
Would this work? Or do the fish I would buy for a reef tank really need the corals to be there from the outset?
Thanks, Ed