Need to see the light!

[Rusty Brodnax]

Hi all,
I am not new to the hobby but, it has been many years. SO Much has changed!
Will save the long story for friends I hope to make in my search. I have a acrylic
70 gallon tank with stand and canopy. It is already drilled with the corner overflow,
and bottom drain. I think it was called "reef ready" in the old days.
I want to start with lights. My goal is live rock and a few fish.
Can y'all tell me where, or to whom, I should address my dumb questions?
Thx,
rb5128@yahoo.com

 

[Shilpan]

Only live rock and fish? If that's the end goal then any lights will do in the colours you want which fit on your tank.

If you want corals, then depending on the types of corals you want to keep (e.g soft or lps or sps), you should buy high end lights like LEDs (costlier initially but cheaper ongoing costs) or T5's.

Just post here and the advanced members can answer all your questions (I'm relatively new by the way).

 

[lmforbis]

If you aren't doing coral, you might look at the Mars aqua on eBay. I have heard good things about them. They are LEDs and relatively inexpensive.

 

[florida joe]

Not really sure how long you have been out of the hobby. You are right things have changed. I am not saying keeping corals is easy but it is much easier today than in the past. You may want to spend the money now on lighting to support easy coral keeping then have to upgrade later

 

[bang guy]

I agree with Joe. Not only does good lighting make reef fish feel at home, it removes the headache of buying new lighting when you decide to start reefing.

 

[Rusty Brodnax]

I agree with Joe. Not only does good lighting make reef fish feel at home, it removes the headache of buying new lighting when you decide to start reefing.

Great suggestions, will start looking for LED systems. I also got a note to get
TFH magazine and a big mail order place to check out. Thanks all!

 

[iidylii]

my brother has mars lights on his 55 gallon and hes been keeping what started as a 6" rose bubble tip anemone "I think that's the name lol" and is now easily 12" for well over a year now and also has another 6" that split from the 12" and they look amazing and are doing very well just my 2 cents