Low light reef options.

Yes, what works for one, does not necessarily work for someonelse.
Your tanks sound great. Best wishes.

Regards, Fishnut.

On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 03:37:34 GMT, exotec
wrote:

We have a 15-gal and a 120-gal, both lighted with PC daylight and
actinic bulbs. We have a fairly good variety of mushrooms, tree
corals, lots of Xenia, Zoos, some polyps, and a few other sorts I
don't even know what they are. No acros or anything. Despite
subsequent recommendations to the contrary, all our critters love our
moderate lighting and water movement. But then, we've got your basic
"damsel tank", too, and they all get along just fine (even with the
firefish) (who NEVER hide, I may add!), so our experience may be out
of the ordinary. We never knew any better until it was "too late", and
equipment and livestock was already installed, so maybe ignorance
turned out to be bliss after all for us. Our tank is very happy,
nevertheless.

On 24 Nov 2005 22:13:07 GMT, Mark Cooper wrote:

What types of corals, mushrooms etc. can be kept with normal fluorescent
lighting?


Thanks,
Mark

=^..^=
... the problem with people these days is that
they've forgotten we're really just animals.

On Sat, 26 Nov 2005 22:56:41 GMT, "Ann R" wrote:

Just an observation. Doesn't the depth of the tank, and the the wattage of
the fixture have something to do with what can and can't be grown in a tank?
Take a 50 watt bulb and put it over a 30" tall tank and the tank will be
dark. Put that same 50 watts over a 12" tall tank and you have a bright
tank.

Ann,

Yes the depth matters tremendously. After 2' (60 cms) deep, the light
penetration reduces dramatically. Scientifically, I think it works on
the inverse square principle, in that the light at double the distance
is only a quarter of the light intensity, not half as you may expect,
and so on. If you read expensive aquarium books, where optimum light
is accurately measured at different depths (the Modern Coral Reef
Aquarium etc.), light penetration drops off significantly after about
5 metres.

Regards, Fishnut.

Just to set the record straight here, you can keep ANY type of coral
using normal (NO)fluorescent lighting provided you have enough of them
and you place the corals in the correct part of the water column. I
have a 90 gal reef that is lighted with 6-40 watt bulbs (1- 50/50,
2-20k, 3-actinic). The key is the IceCap ballast. The NO bulb produce
approximately the same intensity as VHO with these ballasts. However
the electrical consumption is about 50% greater per bulb (i.e., 60 watts
consumed for each NO bulb).

I have a variety of corals including various SPC (small polyped corals)
such as Porites and numerous Acroporas. However, those high light
requiring species need to be located in the upper third of the water
column to get sufficient light. They may not grow quite as fast as
under metal halides but they do just fine. In fact, some of my Porites
actually are much lighter in color on surface of the coral piece versus
the sides, which suggests they are actually getting more light than they
can handle.

So much for the theory that NO bulbs will not work in a diverse coral
reef aquarium.

If you want to respond to me directly, remove the nospam from the address.

Bob

Mark Cooper wrote:
What types of corals, mushrooms etc. can be kept with normal fluorescent
lighting?


Thanks,
Mark

On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 03:37:34 GMT, exotec
wrote:

We have a 15-gal and a 120-gal, both lighted with PC daylight and
actinic bulbs. We have a fairly good variety of mushrooms, tree
corals, lots of Xenia, Zoos, some polyps, and a few other sorts I
don't even know what they are. No acros or anything. Despite
subsequent recommendations to the contrary, all our critters love our
moderate lighting and water movement. But then, we've got your basic
"damsel tank", too, and they all get along just fine (even with the
firefish) (who NEVER hide, I may add!), so our experience may be out
of the ordinary. We never knew any better until it was "too late", and
equipment and livestock was already installed, so maybe ignorance
turned out to be bliss after all for us. Our tank is very happy,
nevertheless.

Exotec,
Just for the record, will you detail the damsels ? I.e. do you have
single fish of several species, or several fish of 1 species. and did
you introduce them all at the same time, or over a period ? Are they
in the large tank or small one ?

Regards, Fishnut.

much snipped

So much for the theory that NO bulbs will not work in a diverse coral
reef aquarium.


What do NO and PC stand for in regard to lighting?
Thanks,
Cindy

On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 19:04:26 GMT, wrote:

Just for the record, will you detail the damsels ? I.e. do you have
single fish of several species, or several fish of 1 species. and did
you introduce them all at the same time, or over a period ? Are they
in the large tank or small one ?

We got most of our damsels all at the same time, and mostly out of the
same display tank at the LFS. I tried to get everybody the same size,
the smallest ones I could find. They may have come from 2 stores, but
they were all added very close to the same time and at the same size.

We got them in pairs:
blue-bodied-with yellow tail;
all-over yellow;
blue with a black dot on the tail (but this one killed his "mate");
pale blue with a yellow face
pale yellow with a pink face
and the last pair were bright yellow with horizontal black stripes
when we bought them, but have turned dusky/muddy grey with yellow fins
and tail now.
This last set have become the biggest fish in the tank, and they're
sort of obnoxious. I'd like to ditch them, if I could catch them.
They're just bullies, they're not really hurting anybody (yet).

We've also got a pair of clarkii clowns, if you want to include them
as "damsels".
I'm sort of wondering about them - the larger fish is dark-bodied and
looks heavier. The smaller one is brighter golden with very little
black or brown, and seems to be lighter-bodied. I wonder if they're
from different parts of the world, or if this is normal, or what? They
weren't at all sure they were the same species of fish when I first
put them together. But they snuggle down together in the anemone now,
so I guess the point is moot after all. I'm just curious.

Other than the dusky ones, everybody seems copacetic with each other.

~v~

=^..^=
.... the problem with people these days is that
they've forgotten we're really just animals.

I assumed it was Normal Output and Power Compact but I may be wrong.

Cindy wrote:
much snipped

So much for the theory that NO bulbs will not work in a diverse coral
reef aquarium.



What do NO and PC stand for in regard to lighting?
Thanks,
Cindy

On Tue, 29 Nov 2005 16:24:08 +1000, miskairal mehiding@Oz wrote:

I assumed it was Normal Output and Power Compact but I may be wrong.

No, you are correct !

Cindy wrote:
much snipped

So much for the theory that NO bulbs will not work in a diverse coral
reef aquarium.



What do NO and PC stand for in regard to lighting?
Thanks,
Cindy

On Tue, 29 Nov 2005 06:00:43 GMT, exotec
wrote:

On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 19:04:26 GMT, wrote:

Just for the record, will you detail the damsels ? I.e. do you have
single fish of several species, or several fish of 1 species. and did
you introduce them all at the same time, or over a period ? Are they
in the large tank or small one ?

We got most of our damsels all at the same time, and mostly out of the
same display tank at the LFS. I tried to get everybody the same size,
the smallest ones I could find. They may have come from 2 stores, but
they were all added very close to the same time and at the same size.

We got them in pairs:
blue-bodied-with yellow tail;
all-over yellow;
blue with a black dot on the tail (but this one killed his "mate");
pale blue with a yellow face
pale yellow with a pink face
and the last pair were bright yellow with horizontal black stripes
when we bought them, but have turned dusky/muddy grey with yellow fins
and tail now.
This last set have become the biggest fish in the tank, and they're
sort of obnoxious. I'd like to ditch them, if I could catch them.
They're just bullies, they're not really hurting anybody (yet).

We've also got a pair of clarkii clowns, if you want to include them
as "damsels".
I'm sort of wondering about them - the larger fish is dark-bodied and
looks heavier. The smaller one is brighter golden with very little
black or brown, and seems to be lighter-bodied. I wonder if they're
from different parts of the world, or if this is normal, or what? They
weren't at all sure they were the same species of fish when I first
put them together. But they snuggle down together in the anemone now,
so I guess the point is moot after all. I'm just curious.

They will now be a pair. The larger one will be the female, and
obviously the smaller one will be the male. Clownfishes and chromis,
although they are damsels, do not normally show the aggression of the
remaining damsels. The exception is the female maroon clownfish
(Premnas biaculeatus), which takes delight in biting the aquarist's
hand, where it hurts most e.g. between the fingers. It regularly draws
blood, I understand. Beautiful fish, but I have always given them a
wide berth.

Other than the dusky ones, everybody seems copacetic with each other.

~v~

=^..^=
... the problem with people these days is that
they've forgotten we're really just animals.

That is quite a mix of species. Judging by the colours you describe,
most are still juveniles. Please report again when the fishes are
bigger, and sexually mature.

Regards, Fishnut.

miskairal wrote:
I assumed it was Normal Output and Power Compact but I may be wrong.

Thank you!