On-going Disagreement, need help

[big boy69]

I need some help on this discussion that me and 2 of my friends keep discussing.
The discussion has to do with live rock.
From what i gather from 3 different boards, all you need is fluorescent lighting to have beautiful live rock.
My 2 friends keep saying that you need lighting that you would use for reef/corals, (4-5 watts per gallon of water), This is from the person that they deal with, he has, I think 25 years experience.
So what is the deal with having beautiful colored live rock, do you need special lighting or what??????
This is not about saying i was right, you were wrong or anything like that. I just want to know what lighting is best for having beautiful live rock. And what is the minimum lighting needed for Live rock??

 

[meadbhb]

Hiya,
You can get away with the regular tank lights that come with hoods, but you'll only be able to keep low light corals. Some of which are very colorful.
If you want some of the brighter colorful corals,yes, you want to invest in better lights.
MH are needed to keep most anenomies and claims.
Meadbhb

 

[bang guy]

The darker Coralline will only grow in relatively dim lighting. If that's what you're looking for the a couple of strip lights will easily grow a lot of coralline.

 

[acrylic51]

I agree with Bang, but your coralline has to do with water quality as well!!!!

 

[nm reef]

Coraline can and will flourish in a wide range of lighting sources. The darker types more so in lower light...high intensity is not needed to have a healthy coraline growth.

 

[newty]

I've had a tank where the Icecap 660 ballast went out, but had 2 actinic VHO bulbs on a W7 going for about 1.5 months. In that time, I did not bother to scrape the glass, and I had amazing coralline growth. So, in my experience with good water quality, you can get away with actinic VHO lights for a short period of time.
Shawn

 

[joker_ca]

80WATTS OF LIGHT ON MY 80G AND HAVE ALOT OF PUPPLE, PINK AND SOME RED ALGEA GROWING WELL

 

[iwantacans]

ime coraline will grow but bleach under high wattage mh

 

[msd2]

I have noticed that after updating my lighting the purple and deep red have reduced in coverage but the bright green and hot pink has increased, so I guess I agree w/others that have mentioned that dark coraline for low light, bright/light for more intense light.