Lighting for FOWLR

i have a 48 inch light fixture made by AGA with a NO bulb in it. i want to replace the NO bulb with an appropriate wattage 50/50 corallife bul, to encourage coralling growth, and to perhaps house a couple of low-light corals eventually. would my fixture be ok with the new bulb?

 

Is this your only source of lighting Roger, one bulb?
How many gallons is your tank again?

 

yep, one bulb. it is 90 gallons. i dont have anything that is light intensive.

 

DOH! I forgot this was a FOWLR! ;D

Yeah the 50/50 would look good. I like those bulbs.

Not sure what corals you could really have down the road at 1/2 watt a gallon though.

 

i was told that there were several varieties of low-light corals, such as mushrooms, polyps, and trees. was i told wrong?

 

probably not. shrooms are cool. i guess i think of low-light as 2-3 watts per gallon. below that i am not sure about.
[smiley=ohwe.gif]

 

would you suggest i avoid all corals for now? i have some kind of purple tree coral that hiked on my LR, and it is growing like a weed. if need be, i will be content with that.

 

No way Roger! Just know more than I do about really low-light corals. Which shouldn't be too hard. hehe. I'll try to look at wattage rec's on shrooms. Let me know if you find out anything.

 

cool, thanks!! since you are MUCH more experienced than me, could you please look at my post "map angel" under the Fish forum and maybe give me your opinion? wrassman appears to have disappeared. thanks!!!!

 

Roger,

Don't want to rain on your parade, but in general, you need at least 2 - 3 watts per gallon to support even low light corals.  

When I say "in general" there are two important concepts to keep in mind.  First is that we want to create an environment where our livestock, fish, coarls and inverts, thrive and not just survive.  Second is that intensity of light is as important as the total wattage required.

Obviously you have had success with a hitchiker coral that is growing in your sytem.  Remember that this hitchiker is very new and used to your tank environment.  Other specimens that have grown up in a more lighted environment may not adapt to an environment of less light.

The more light you have inceases your options for a diverse salt water community. My coraline algae grows in my tank with Metal Halide lighting, but not in my 29 gallon with 55w of 50/50 Power Compact lighting.

;D 8)