lighting question please...

[cyndl]

i have a 75 gal tank that is currently FOWLR. i would like to add a few corals. water quality has been consistantly good. problem is i don't have any special lights and don't have the money for any new ones right now. i currently have the light strip that came with the tank and two additional ones from my previous 44 gal tanks. so i have one long one and two shorter ones ( basically like haveing 2 long ones). is this sufficient lighting to keep ANY kind coral? or do i just have to wait till i have money for new lights? OR could i replace the bulbs with a special kind of bulb? i've seen at the fish store they have all different kinds of bulbs. mine are just the reg ones that come with the strip.
TIA!!
cyndl

 

[40 galons]

hmmm.. iv pondered the same question and came to the conclusion... fist off what are ya trying to keep.. if youre wanting something that takes more light then what you have then yes, you need more lighting, but then there are some corals that perfer shaded areas and that lighting youre describing would best suit them .. hope that helps . i dont think the different lights made for the fixture that came with the 75 gallon would do more light loving corals any justice uless you had about 10 of them ..but iv never seen the light produced by 10 of them.....just a guess )

 

[namas05]

You might be fine with some mushrooms or a very few soft corals that have very low light requirements.
Depending on what you want. More than likely you need to study what you buy first and don't just take the word of the LFS as most of the time they are not that knowlegable.
IMO you should upgrade lighting first, but there are a few that would be fine with very low lighting.
And you would probably do better asking this question under the reef section or under new hobbist section.
Might get better responses.