Lighting questions

[steved]

I have a 55 gal tank that contains 20lbs of live rock. I didn't buy much rock because of cost and the fact that I wanted some larger fish. Let me say that my cash flow is slow to get to me, and I don't mind taking a bit longer to get things done right. My tank has cycled except the ph needs to be tended to for the next week (it's a bit low). My question is will I have to install lighting right now. I was told the tank would cycle better without light. Now I am hearing that the live rock needs light. Is this true? If so, what lights do you recommend? If not, will my fish need lighting before I place them in? I plan on purchasing puffers and lionfish. If needbe, I will purchase lighting for now and hold off on the fish. THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!!!!

 

[beth]

You didn't say how long your tank has been up and running?
Yes live rock, and all invertebrates, need LIGHT! And not just any light, either. You need actinic light, which is very blue in the aquarium. It is essential that the correct lighting is in place, as in the absense of this light, you're rock / invertebtates will not thrieve, and, in fact, will likely eventually die. They literally feed off this light, or, rather, produce the food they need for themselves because of this light.
However, in the aquarium, this blue light does not look very attractive, thus you will want to add another light to show off your fish and tank. There are many other tpyes, and since you plan to include fish in your tank, you will want to choose a light that shows them off. Fish, are not really that picky about the tpye of light they get. Since you have a small tank, you need to stick to florescent light, as they run cool and won't effect the temp of your tank. So basically, you are looking at purchasing 2 lights. I'd get the lights before you get the fish. Again, you don't say how long you've cycled, but my policy is to get everything exactly right before adding the livestock. And your live rock is begging for light, I imagine, right about now. Good luck!

 

[steved]

Thanks for the help. By the way, the tank has cycled for about 4 weeks. I just had my water tested today and the only problem was a slightly low ph ~ 7.6 I bought some stuff to raise it to 8.3